Heritagization of disaster ruins and ethnic culture in China: Recovery plans after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake - Archive ouverte HAL Access content directly
Journal Articles China Information Year : 2017

Heritagization of disaster ruins and ethnic culture in China: Recovery plans after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

Abstract

This article discusses state-led heritagization processes in Beichuan and Wenchuan Counties, two Qiang ethnic minority areas severely affected by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (China). Certain destroyed landscapes were preserved and turned into earthquake relic sites. In particular, the former Beichuan County seat was entirely heritagized for memorial, economic, and patriotic education purposes, causing an emotional conflict with locals still affected by loss and trauma. At the same time, Qiang cultural practices were hastily registered as national and international intangible cultural heritage, while reconstructed Qiang villages were transformed into heritage tourism destinations. These initiatives tend to reshape Qiang culture elements into fetishized commodities. Allocating massive funds to historically marginalized regions, these post-disaster heritagization programmes aimed at boosting economic recovery, as well as demonstrating state power, national unity and solidarity. Implemented using a top–down method, they appear insensitive to the affected population’s trauma and the sociohistorical context from which the newly heritagized elements originate. The disaster and Qiang culture heritage tourism not only failed to bring about sustainable economic development to the earthquake-stricken areas, but also ignored to a large extent the initial goal of ‘post-disaster cultural recovery’ and the virtues of cultural heritage in recovery processes.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Klem_Qiaoyun_HAL_Disaster heritage.pdf (16.73 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origin : Files produced by the author(s)

Dates and versions

hal-03334596 , version 1 (04-09-2021)

Identifiers

Cite

Katiana Le Mentec, Qiaoyun Zhang. Heritagization of disaster ruins and ethnic culture in China: Recovery plans after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. China Information, 2017, 31 (3), pp.349-370. ⟨10.1177/0920203X17736508⟩. ⟨hal-03334596⟩
89 View
68 Download

Altmetric

Share

Gmail Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More