Matten M (2022)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Book chapter / Article in edited volumes
Publication year: 2022
Publisher: Routledge
Edited Volumes: Reenactment Case Studies: Global Perspectives on Experiential History
In the past decades, contemporary China has witnessed a return to its revolutionary past by developing the so-called red tourism. Combining the need to strengthen the tourism industry with the urgent need for political education in the post-revolutionary era is in the eyes of the party-state a feasible strategy for ensuring its legitimacy. This chapter analyzes Yan’an as a sacred site of Chinese communist revolution in 20th century by showing how memory and identity are in flux, subjected to constant renegotiations between the sites and its visitors. The social practice of visiting the physical place of Yan’an includes the reliving of the revolutionary past, be it mock battles, the immersion into red songs dating from the Cultural Revolution era, or the reenactment of a simple lifestyle that tries to adhere to Maoist ideas of the high socialist era. I argue that the colorful reenactments and tangible experiences offered to visitors have become an effective strategy where the performance of the revolutionary struggle is a powerful reminder of the achievements of the Chinese Communist Party for which gratitude is not only expected but also granted in today’s society, even though the revolutionary era has long ended.
APA:
Matten, M. (2022). Reenacting the Revolution: The Sacred Site of Yan’an in Contemporary China. In Vanessa Agnew, Sabine Stach and Juliane Tomann (Eds.), Reenactment Case Studies: Global Perspectives on Experiential History. Routledge.
MLA:
Matten, Marc. "Reenacting the Revolution: The Sacred Site of Yan’an in Contemporary China." Reenactment Case Studies: Global Perspectives on Experiential History. Ed. Vanessa Agnew, Sabine Stach and Juliane Tomann, Routledge, 2022.
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