Intangible Cultural Heritage in Asia: Discourse and Practice

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel

Abstract

Since the Second World War, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has supported a series of world heritage initiatives that have had a significant global impact, most recently the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). What happens when the UNESCO ICH Convention is ratified by a state in Asia? How do UNESCO’s global efforts interact with local, regional, and state efforts to protect expressive culture? What changes emerge on the ground in local communities? Drawing upon four case studies ranging across Asia—from India, South Korea, Japan, and China—this panel illuminates various discourses and practices surrounding the safeguarding of ICH in national and local contexts, and the conflicts and challenges faced by local communities. The first paper examines ICH discourse and practice in India through the lens of Kutiyattam theatre of Kerala, exploring the (re)production of the state’s role and a sustained state-level promotion of artistic continuity through creative adaptation and change. The second paper explores what UNESCO recognition actually brings to local ritual practitioners in Cheju Island, South Korea, after their annual shamanic ritual was added to the Representative List of the ICH of Humanity. The third paper addresses conflicts over tradition in the process of protecting stigmatized “feudal superstitions” as China’s national ICH. And finally, the fourth paper explores how the concept of cultural heritage has been recontextualized in the discourse of Japanese society and considers the particular implications that have taken hold, with regard to the historical context.

Area of Study

• Interarea-Border Crossing

Session Organizer

• Ziying You, College of Wooster

Chair

• Mark Bender, Ohio State University

Individual Presentations

• The State and the (Re)production of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Kutiyattam, UNESCO, and National/Global Heritage in India - Leah K. Lowthorp, Harvard University

• Local Realities of UNESCO Recognition: A Shamanic Ritual from Cheju Island, South Korea - Kyoim Yun, University of Kansas

• Conflicts over Tradition: “Feudal Superstitions” as Intangible Cultural Heritage in China - Ziying You, College of Wooster

• The Production of Cultural Heritage in Japan: Okinawan Theatre between National and Global Cultural Policy - Hideyo Konagaya, Waseda University

Discussant

• Mark Bender, Ohio State University