TY - JOUR
KW - cultural heritage
KW - cultural recovery
KW - disaster ruins
KW - disaster tourism
KW - Qiang ethnic minority
KW - Wenchuan earthquake
KW - Economic and social development (THE\_5342)
KW - Indigenous peoples (THE\_1844)
KW - Tourism (THE\_202)
KW - Minority groups (THE\_1697)
KW - Natural disasters (ICH\_1239)
KW - Emergency situations (ICH\_1333)
KW - Degraded habitat (ICH\_1300)
AU - Katiana Le Mentec
AU - Qiaoyun Zhang
AB - 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.
BT - China Information
DA - nov
DO - 10.1177/0920203X17736508
LA - English
M1 - 3
N1 - Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
N2 - 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.
PY - 2017
SP - 349
EP - 370
T2 - China Information
TI - Heritagization of disaster ruins and ethnic culture in China: Recovery plans after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85033666840&doi=10.1177%2f0920203X17736508&partnerID=40&md5=98b0b33f84d17f289fc5b3a16dd17c92
VL - 31
SN - 0920203X (ISSN)
ER -