Maags, C. orcid.org/0000-0001-5849-2536 (2023) State institutions as building blocks of China’s Infrastructures of memory – the case of intangible heritage. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 52 (2). pp. 163-184. ISSN 1868-1026
Abstract
The past is continuously reinterpreted to serve the interests of the present. Over the last two centuries of turbulent Chinese history, the past has been redefined through narratives and categorisations. How does the party-state manage the diversity and complexity of China's past, and what implications does this have for state–society relations in China? Based on a case study of China's adoption of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention, this article argues that the Chinese party-state creates “infrastructures of memory,” which enable it to actively manage China's diverse past through selective institutionalisation. This process creates a “cognitive map” of tangible and rationalised relations and boundaries between vernacular memories as interpreted by the state. Although this map is to shape and direct Chinese collective memory and identity, it also sparks contestation among members of the populace who seek to preserve vernacular and multiple memories of their socio-cultural past.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | China; intangible cultural heritage; memory; institutions; state–society relations |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of East Asian Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 02 Dec 2022 10:31 |
Last Modified: | 26 Sep 2024 14:07 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publishing |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/18681026221145950 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:193984 |