Ambivalent Heritage: The Im/Possibility of Museumifying the Overseas Chinese in South China. (November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Cangbai
• Is Part Of: Modern China. Volume 46:Number 6(2020:Nov.)
• Page Start: 559
• Page End: 584
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Subjects: overseas Chinese -- cultural heritage -- museum -- South China qiaoxiang -- tourism; China -- Periodicals; Chine; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 951.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0097700419878801
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0097-7004

Abstract

The past two decades have witnessed an "overseas Chinese museum fever" across China. By commemorating heroic figures and treasuring the contributions of the overseas Chinese to the motherland, the representation of overseas Chinese in state-led museums has played an important role in promoting a "transnational nationalism" among domestic and international audiences. Using "ambivalent heritage" as a framing device and through a case study of the Chen Cihong Residence, this article discusses an underresearched aspect of museumifying the overseas Chinese, that is, issues that are unsettled and difficult to stage. By foregrounding the conflicting interpretations and uses of the Chen Cihong Residence as an ancestral house, a museum, and a tourist spot, this article raises important questions regarding the dis/continuities of national, local, and individual identities in heritagizing transnational Chinese mobilities. Additionally, it calls for a diasporic perspective on the study of cultural heritage and proposes a new insight into heritage preservation.