From "Lamb Kebabs" to "Shared Joy": Cultural Appropriation, Ignorance and the Constrained Connectivity within the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative. Issue 121 (2nd January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Yangbin
• Is Part Of: Journal of contemporary China. Volume 29:Issue 121(2020)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 16
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02
• Subjects: China -- Periodicals; China -- Politics and government -- 1976- -- Periodicals; Chine -- Périodiques; Chine -- Politique et gouvernement -- 1976- -- Périodiques; 306.0951
• DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2019.1621526
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1067-0564

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article primarily pays attention to Han Chinese appropriations of Uyghur culture from the post-Mao era. A unique case is comedian Chen Peisi's role of Uyghur lamb kebab peddler in a TV sketch in 1986. The root of the cultural appropriation is to re-essentialize Uyghur culture to quell the demand by the majority Han Chinese for cultural consumption in the market economy era. The author further examines a similar case of Chinese appropriation of African culture in 2018. In the end, the article argues that deeply-rooted cultural ignorance from Han Chinese towards ethnic and racial "others" is still prevalent today, which poses a subtle challenge to the Party-State's lofty goal of building people's bonds within the One Belt and One Road Initiative.