Stereotyped image creation: An act of copying or not?

Early studies related to creativity emphasize the value of originality and see the act of copying as an indication of a lack of self-confidence and self-expression. However, evidence from recent studies has revealed that drawings created by young adolescents carry particular meanings closely related to their everyday life experiences, and suggests that their drawings may thus be considered as socio-cultural products. Therefore, we cannot simply conclude that young adolescents’ copying is nothing but mere imitation. This article aims to answer one essential question regarding stereotyped image creation: Is stereotyped drawing just an act of copying? According to this question, I will examine the key issues related to the imitation phenomenon and stereotyped image creation from the stereotyped ideological perspective and the psychological and socio-cultural perspectives. In the article, I will use manga, one of the most popular forms in the popular visual cultural context, as an example in order to explicate the various ways in which stereotyped image creation may be interpreted, and argue that stereotyped image creation is not just imitation, but that it also has psychological, socio-cultural and educational underpinnings.
早期與創作相關的研究，都強調原創性的價值，並將抄襲複製的行為視為缺乏自信與自我表現的象徵。然而，近年來的研究顯示，青少年創作的繪畫帶有特定的意義，與其日常生活的經驗密切相關，並表示青少年的繪畫可視作社會文化的產品。所以，我們不能妄下結論，說青少年的抄襲複製行為只是毫無價值的模仿行為。本文旨在回答與定型性創作(stereotyped image creation) 有關的一個基本問題︰定型性繪畫是否只是一種抄襲複製行為？我將根據此問題，從定型性的意識形態、心理學與社會文化的觀點，解釋與模仿現象及定型性創作相關的關鍵議題。本文將以漫畫 (流行視覺文化領域最常見的表現形式) 為例，以不同方式闡述定型性創作可能的詮釋，並提出定型性創作不只是模仿，還具有心理、社會文化與教育的理論基礎。 Copyright © 2013 NTAEC.