Abstract:

During the 1930s and 1940s, as the Anti-Japanese War intensified and the development of the southwestern frontier progressed, scholars in the fields such as folklore, ethnology, anthropology, linguistics and literature collectively engaged in the investigation of myths among southwestern ethnic minorities. The construction of the modern nation-state and the formation of modern academic disciplines profoundly influenced the study of these myths. Researchers adopted rational perspectives and scientific methodologies to reinterpret these myths, transforming them from supernatural local knowledge into objectified ethnographic materials that could be systematically analyzed. Simultaneously, they sought to extract elements from these myths that could contribute to national community construction and the development of a new national culture, integrating them into an integral component of the national cultural identity framework. While this approach elevated the visibility of southwestern ethnic myths and cultures within mainstream societal discourse by converting localized knowledge into national public texts, it suffered from a lack of an active perspective from local cultural practitioners and a tendency to overlook the rich, multifaceted meanings embedded in indigenous traditions.

Key words: ethnic minorities in Southwest China, myths, modern nation-state, modern academic disciplines, consciousness of community