Abstract:

As the embodiment of “the native” in the construction of nationalism, “folk custom” and “folklore study” have played an important role in the nationalist discourse in modern China. By analyzing the formation process of the two concepts in the context of the cultural theory of nation-state construction, we can understand better China’s folklore study as a discipline and the problems in its development. The cases of the development of international folklore tell us that intellectual elites in nation-states discover folk cultural resources which maintain the identity of nation-states from their own cultural traditions and search for the source of power to promote nation-states. As for the construction of China’s folklore study, “folklore study” as a “new study of Chinese ancient civilization” is also a product of construction instead of a transcendental being. Moreover, “folk custom” in the context of protecting intangible cultural heritage today has been reconstructing too.