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Heritage, Identity and Sense of Place in Sichuan Province After the 12 May Earthquake in China

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Heritage, Identity and Sense of Place in Sichuan Province After the 12 May Earthquake in China Heritage, Identity and Sense of Place in Sichuan Province after the 12 May Earthquake in China by Xuejuan Zhang Thesis submitted as part of the final examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Royal Holloway College, University of London Declaration I, Xuejuan Zhang, declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and that it has been produced by me as the result of my own original research. Signed: _________________________________ Date:__________________________________ 2 Abstract At 14.28 on 12 May 2008, a massive earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale struck Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province. Causing widespread destruction, it was considered to be the most severe earthquake in China’s history, and indeed one of the worst in the world. Drawing on the results of an ethnographic study carried out in the disaster areas between 2009 and 2013, this research explores the impact of the earthquake on cultural heritage, popular memory, memorialisation and tourism in Sichuan. Critically examining the complex, overlapping relationships between heritage, identity and sense of place in post-disaster Sichuan, I argue that historical sites that come to mark tragic events are not simply commemorative or historically important because a disastrous event has occurred, but that they are instead places which are continuously negotiated, constructed and reconstructed into places of meaning through on-going human action. While traditional interpretation of these sites are usually viewed as static ones, they are actually dynamic sites that both generate and are informed by official, popular and individual memory through acts of localised and non-localised place production and consumption. By focusing on the practice of disaster tourism in post-disaster Sichuan, this study aims to contribute to the growing body of research on ‘dark’ tourism. It demonstrates the central role played in studies of cultural heritage by cultural and geographical concepts of identity and representation, highlighting the politics of heritage. It will also contribute to a growing literature on the significance of embodied practice, in this case with regard to the use and performance of tragic places. To sum up, the research explores culture, the politics of space and the relationship between consumption, memory and identity to reveal the tensions and paradoxical agendas which surround heritage tourism landscapes in a post- disaster context. The findings of this research are relevant to planners, conservationists and other public agencies involved in cultural recovery processes in Asia’s emerging economies, and they also have policy implications for the various levels of government involved. 3 Table of Contents List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 2: Sichuan and the 12 May Earthquake ............................................................................................ 25 2.1 Sichuan and its Cultures ........................................................................................................................... 26 2.2 The 12 May Sichuan Earthquake and its Impact ............................................................................. 33 2.2.1 The 12 May Sichuan Earthquake ................................................................................................ 33 2.2.2 Media Coverage of the Sichuan Earthquake ........................................................................... 39 2.2.3 Responses to the Sichuan Earthquake ..................................................................................... 42 2.3 The Sichuan Earthquake’s Impact on the Tourist Industry ........................................................ 46 2.3.1 The Effect of the Sichuan Earthquake on Tourist Sites ...................................................... 50 2.3.2 The Sichuan Earthquake’s Impact on Tourism-related Employees in Sichuan ........ 53 2.3.3 The Importance of Developing the Tourist Industry in Quake-hit Areas ................... 54 Chapter 3: Heritage Studies, Tourism Studies and Dark Tourism ....................................................... 57 3.1 Heritage Study .............................................................................................................................................. 57 3.1.1 Expressing Post-disaster Heritage Meaning: A Geographical Approach to Heritage and the Post-disaster Heritage Landscape ...................................................................... 61 3.1.2 Authorised Heritage Discourse and Authorised Tourism ................................................. 70 3.1.3 Heritage Engaging with Memory and Remembering Performances ............................ 78 3.2 Tourism Study and Heritage Tourism ................................................................................................. 82 3.2.1 Tourism Study .................................................................................................................................... 82 3.2.2 Heritage Tourism Study ................................................................................................................. 88 3.3 Dark Tourism ................................................................................................................................................ 93 4 3.4 Heritage and Tourism Studies in China .............................................................................................. 98 3.4.1 Redefinition of Cultural Heritage ............................................................................................... 99 3.4.2 Tourism Studies in China ............................................................................................................ 100 Chapter 4: Researching Heritage, Identity and Sense of Place in Sichuan Province after the 12 May Earthquake ............................................................................................................................................ 105 4.1 Methodological Framework: A Multi-method Qualitative Approach ................................... 105 4.2 In-depth Interviews ................................................................................................................................. 108 4.3 Visual Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 111 4.4 Participant Observation ......................................................................................................................... 116 4.5 Documentation .......................................................................................................................................... 117 4.6 Ethical Issues and Positionality .......................................................................................................... 119 Chapter 5: Transformation of Cultural Sites in Sichuan: from Cultural Landscape through Disasterscape to Touristscape ........................................................................................................... 123 5.1 Cultural Heritage Sites and Objects in Sichuan ............................................................................. 124 5.2 Status of Damage to Cultural Heritage Sites/Objects in Sichuan ........................................... 126 5.3 Categorising the Transformation of Sichuan Cultural Heritage Sites and Objects ......... 129 5.4 New ‘Heritagescape’ Created by the 12 May Earthquake ......................................................... 148 5.4.1 The 12 May Earthquake Ruins Become Tourist Theme Parks ..................................... 148 5.4.2 Remaking the Meaning of Jina Qiang Ethnic Village ........................................................ 163 Chapter 6: Complexities and Tensions in the Chinese Communist Party’s Vision of Post-disaster Heritage .............................................................................................................................................. 180 6.1 Nationalism and the 5.12 Earthquake: The Chinese Communist Party’s Responses to the Earthquake ............................................................................................................................................ 185 6.1.1 The CCP's Call for Unity and National Mobilisation for Earthquake Recovery ..... 186 5 6.1.2 The Involvement of a range of Governmental Institutions from throughout China .............................................................................................................................................................. 189 6.1.3 The Rebuilding of Sichuan: a National Strategy Promoted by the CCP..................... 190 6.2 The CCP’s Emergency Plans and Actions on Cultural Heritage .............................................. 195 6.2.1 The Creation of a Cultural Heritage Emergency Management System by the CCP ................................................................................................................................................................. 195 6.2.2 The Chinese Communist Party's Actions for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage .......................................................................................................................................................
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