Authenticity in Contemporary Culture: Insights from Gaozhuang, China

Abstract

This paper presents the recently constructed cultural landscape of Gaozhuang Xishuangjing. It examines the reconstructed authenticity of Gaozhuang through the lens of cultural conservation.Authenticity is an issue in cultural heritage management: authenticity. Together with integrity, it is one of the qualifying aspects of the outstanding universal value (OUV) assessment conducted through the World Heritage List. Past decades have witnessed much research on authenticity in which attention has shifted from a Eurocentric focus to cultural contexts. Eurocentrism focuses on material, fixed, or formulaic aspects, while cultural emphasis is on associative heritage and values. Although the focus continues to change, it hardly includes reconstructed authenticity.Therefore, this study elucidates authenticity in the heritagization process on the basis of authenticity in the cultural heritage field. It examines the case of the reconstructed cultural landscape and tourism at Gaozhuang Xishuangjing.It employs a qualitative methodology, involving a document survey on authenticity. The principles are delineated from articles related to authenticity in cultural conservation and tourism. It also conducts on-site fieldwork involving interviews and observations to collect primary data from Gaozhuang.Findings indicate that reconstructed authenticity at Gaozhuang could be a new authenticity reconstructed and integrated with current needs and context; it involves three domains that affect people's judgement about authenticity, including local participation which is well-attained.

Potentials of Employing Local Heritage in City Branding: The Case of Baluwarti Surakarta in Indonesia

“…A city accommodates its heritage activities carried out by the communities and have a character that forms its identity (Nursanty, 2018;Sultan & Al-Thahab, 2023). Moreover, Liu & Kirdsiri (2023) show that authenticity of a building can be integrated with the needs and context of today. According to Dilaveri, Karitsioti & Kargas (2020), cultural elements such as historical heritage, traditions, art and local culture are important assets in branding a city and increasing tourist numbers and investments.…”