• "Fake Literary Youth"
    By Zoe Wong, Teresa Lei, Wilson Sin, Elaine Ma

    The term "fake literary youth" has been around for a few years. It describes in particular a group of youngsters who have some literary and artistic characteristics but lack the essential quality that distinguishes the real literary group. Thus, how to identify the two groups of youth becomes intriguing.

    The term "literary youth" is commonly understood as youngsters who are well-educated, have a passion for literature and art, and carry an air of sophistication. They impress others with their literary knowledge and elegant style of speaking and behaving.

    It is because literary youth look stylish and impart a unique feeling to others, it becomes a trend for some people to act like them and follow what they do. Such people may likely become one of the "fake literary youth".

    These "fake literary youth" pretend or act like real literary youth. They follow the style of the literary youth by wearing black-rimmed glasses, carrying a camera and hanging out in coffee shops. They may show others that they have habits related to literature or art, but in fact they may just pretend to do so. For example, one may bring along a literary book, go to a coffee shop, take a photo and upload a "check-in" post on Facebook to exhibit that he or she reads literature in a high-end cafe.

    To have a better understanding of who may belong to the "fake literary youth", we conducted a test. Based on the self check-list of 20 questions published on the 5th volume of Hong Kong magazine 100 Most, 14 questions were selected and modified for testing the youth in Macao. Youngsters of generation Y were asked to answer this online questionnaire in October. Among our respondents, only 8% of them may potentially be considered in the group of  "fake literary youth".

    From the result of our questionnaire, 64% of the respondents considered that the "fake literary youth" are those who claim to be literary youth, but in fact do not have any habit related to literature or art. Another 23% thought that those who plan their schedules with activities of literature and art which are aimed at impressing others belong to the "fake literary youth".

    In addition, we conducted three interviews to obtain a deeper understanding of young people's opinion about the "fake literary youth".

    Wong Chi U, a student of University of Macau (UM), thought that the term "fake literary youth" stands for a group of people who are hypocritical and act like literary persons. She defined them as people who spend their spare time by reading books or listening to music in coffee shops. She also said that female "fake literary youth" usually have short hair. She considered the "fake literary youth" a derogatory term since the word "fake" normally did not mean something good. "Youngsters who want to escape form pressure coming from society jump into the world of books," said Wong. She also added that nowadays there are too many rules and expectations that are laid on the youth, which makes "fake literary youth" to exist.

    Another interviewee, Mr. Ip thought that the term "fake literary youth" fits people who are usually slim, wear black-rimmed glasses, look like they have some artistic temperament and act like they study a lot. He felt that these "fake literary youth" love to post a long status on Facebook. He did not feel comfortable with them. "People are fake, they are always posing and pretending," said Ip.

    Tam Hoi Ian, another student of UM, agreed that such people think of themselves as well-educated and civilized. "They may know a lot of books and movies, but only the titles, not the content," said Tam. She also pointed out that they may post some gloomy status on Facebook at night time, and their purpose is to get others' attention. She believed that the number of "fake literary youth" is small, and they would not affect society. "There are different kinds of people living together with us in our society, thus we should learn to accept them."

    In fact, there is no right or wrong for someone to bring a literary book to a coffee shop, nor should there be any value judgment about them.  Only you know for sure whether you really read the book or just pretend to read. Also, you are the only person who has the right to judge whether you are a real or fake literary youth, or you may just be neither of them.


    "Fake Literary Youth" Test

    You can use the following questions as reference to check whether you are a "fake literary youth" or not.

    1. Do you have the habit of going to coffee shops?
    2. Are you wearing black-rimmed glasses?
    3. Have you complained that TV programs are vulgar?
    4. Do you love listening to songs which are not in your native language, although you may not understand what the lyrics mean?
    5. Do you have the habit of going to bookstores?
    6. Do you have the habit of buying or borrowing books even though you may no finish reading them?
    7. Do you smoke?
    8. Do you always use the MUJI brand stationeries?
    9. Have you published any gloomy status items on Facebook?
    10. Do you prefer reading foreign magazines even though you cannot understand the words; and you never buy local magazines?
    11. Do you love to give your opinion online rather than speak out in front of others in the real life?
    12. Would you button the first button of your shirt which touches you neck?
    13. Are you slim or do you want to act like you are slim?
    14. Would you not use your self picture as the Facebook profile picture because it is not stylish?

    Answers:
    If you get seven or more "yes" answers, you are probably a "fake literary youth".