臺灣貓咖啡的演進與空間創造

The popularity of 'cat cafés' in recent years is part of the global phenomena of 'cat economics'. Various types of 'cat café' exist; this study focuses on 'themed restaurants' in which the main service is not only food but also 'interactions between human and cats'. This work argues that a 'cat café' is a new type of themed space, and attempts to examine the spatial production of 'cat café', as well as the ways that cats are represented and gazed in this consumption space. This investigation adopts participant observation and in-depth interviews, and draws three main conclusions from observation results. First, the decorations in many cat cafés strongly present the 'theme', that is 'cat', but spatial design is decisive for defining 'how cats are displayed' and 'how customers can interact with cats in each café'. Second, relationships between cats and customers are strongly associated with 'site terms and conditions'. We argue that these terms form the mechanism to keep the 'controllability' of themed space and consumption experiences; they decide who will be included or excluded in each shop and how customers approach cats. Third, many cat cafés in Taiwan are not only consumption spaces, but also sites for animal welfare education. The final argument illustrates the context of cat cafés in Taiwan, and the contrast with cat cafés in other countries, such as Japan.

關鍵字

Cat café ； human-animal relation ； theming space

並列摘要

近年來貓咖啡(catcafé)熱潮在全球蔓延，許多重要的城市都存在著一兩間貓咖啡；而在臺灣，「開一間有貓的餐廳∕咖啡廳」也成為餐飲空間流行的經營型態。廣義來說，餐飲空間內圈養2隻以上的貓，便可視為貓咖啡；狹義而言，以「與貓互動」做為消費者來店目的之餐飲空間，才可被視為「貓咖啡」。臺灣作為「貓咖啡」的起源地，諸多研究或報導中除了一句「臺灣作為貓咖啡發源地」外，相關研究卻付之闕如。在本研究以臺灣貓咖啡的研究與田野資料，重探究臺灣1990年代後至近年來貓咖啡的轉變與當前空間樣貌，藉由參與觀察與深度訪談多家貓咖啡，指出臺灣貓咖啡近年來之發展與空間特質，釐清如何在日本式貓咖啡成為全球貓咖啡的模板，甚至逆勢輸入臺灣後，臺灣的貓咖啡如何仍保有其多元與獨特之樣貌。本文並且探討「貓」作為被消費與被凝視的元素，如何在此消費空間被展現∕展示∕展演，並且與消費者產生不同類型的互動關係，但同時貓也是此空間中具備能動性的主角，其存在影響空間的物質性如空間陳設與規劃。研究首先梳理貓咖啡在臺灣浮現的歷史與背景，並且透過歸納不同類型貓咖啡的內部空間結構，說明此消費空間的設計如何將貓咖啡形塑為一展演貓的「舞台」，影響人與貓之間互動的關係。作者並強調不同貓咖啡的「貓舞台」並非單一與標準化；經營者透過經營、而消費者透過餽贈或交換個人記憶與敘事等施為(doing)，密集與主動地參與(involve)貓咖啡空間主題化的過程，使這些貓咖啡得以發展出有別於他人的消費經驗的空間基礎。也因此貓咖啡不僅為消費飲食的空間或與貓相遇的場所，更是以貓作為基礎、社會關係、敘事與記憶傳遞的場所，進一步成為改變「人—貓關係」與「貓的意象」的文化與社會空間。

並列關鍵字

貓咖啡；人與動物關係；主題化空間

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臺灣貓咖啡的演進與空間創造

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