01746nas a2200289   4500000000100000000000100001000000100002008004100003260000800044653000900052653001500061653001000076653002200086653002200108653001600130653001300146653002600159653001900185653002200204100002400226245006700250856015400317300001200471490000700483520094600490022002001436       2020                            d  cjul10aEpic10aKyrgyzstan10aManas10acultural heritage10acultural identity10aethnography10aheritage10aheritage conservation10aheritagization10aNational identity1 aSvetlana Jacquesson00aClaiming heritage: the Manas epic between China and Kyrgyzstan  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85089902294&doi=10.1080%2f02634937.2020.1765739&partnerID=40&md5=dd55c4df2fdb978a91c8a572e09627fd  a324-3390 v393 aIn this article I argue that the renewed promotion of the Manas epic in Kyrgyzstan after 2010 should not be reduced to an attempt to consolidate a national identity or strengthen the state by endorsing ethno-nationalism. Instead, since the 2009 inscription of the Manas epic on the UNESCO List of Intangible Heritage by China, Kyrgyzstan has undertaken a full-scale heritagization not only of the Manas epic but also of its other tangible or intangible cultural assets. This heritagization has been shaped by an anxiety that Kyrgyzstan’s most valuable cultural asset might be appropriated by China. By shifting the focus from Manas as a potential national role model to the epic as national heritage, I suggest that Kyrgyzstan’s latest outburst of ‘Manasification’ is better understood as an attempt to resist China’s ongoing attempts to harness the heritage discourse in rewriting the cultural and historical narrative of Eurasia.  a02634937 (ISSN)