Negotiating performance between policy and platform — heritage practice of a Chinese craftsperson on Douyin (TikTok)

ABSTRACT

The pervasiveness of digital media has profoundly transformed how we preserve and promote intangible cultural heritage (ICH). With the growing popularity of Douyin, a video-focused social networking platform, ICH inheritors in China have begun to post videos that showcase their artisanship. On the one hand, the affordances of Douyin encourage its users to keep up with the latest trend, subjugating them to mimetic participation; on the other hand, heritage policies in China foster the top-down formation of nationalist identity. Therefore, how heritage practitioners negotiate between the top-down authority of policies and the horizontal mimesis of the platform is a matter of concern. This paper applies performance analysis to explore the Douyin videos of a Chinese craftsperson, Li Niangen, a municipal ICH inheritor whose Douyin videos are highly popular. ICH policies in China and the affordances of the platform may support the formation of distinct identities. However, by assuming multiple and even contrasting roles in his videos, Li is fully engaged in none of them. This paper proposes that the presentation of multiple roles copes with the conflicting logic in Chinese society. In addition, the misalignment of these roles may simultaneously utilise and unsettle the administrative and digital authorities.

KEYWORDS:

• ICH policy
• Douyin (TikTok) videos
• producer agency
• performance studies
• social media

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Prof. He Fang for facilitating my contact with Li Niangen. I am also grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Marc Gloede, for his long-term support and to Dr. Kristy Kang for her class on new media and digital scholarship, where the paper was conceptualised. I also appreciate Dr. Xiaomeng Li’s guidance during the revision and publication process. In the end, I would like to extend my gratitude to the anonymous reviewers whose constructive comments have made the paper more solid.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Due to internet censorship in China, users with a Chinese SIM card cannot access content on the international version of TikTok. But people outside China can access the Douyin website. However, to download the Douyin App, users must have a Chinese Apple Store account.

2. Compared with TikTok, Douyin has developed more advanced e-commerce functions, allowing users to directly purchase items from the App.

3. According to Li, the number of Douyin followers does not constitute a standard by which a craftsperson’s status is evaluated in the ICH inscription system. If an inheritor has a large number of Douyin followers, nevertheless, limited scores can be added in the evaluation process.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yinzi Yi

Yinzi Yi is a PhD candidate in the School of Art, Design, and Media at Nanyang Technological University. Prior to embarking on her doctoral studies, she worked as an independent curator and a human resources officer. She holds a master’s degree in art history and arts administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Currently, her research focuses on non-textual instructions in art practices that navigate political restrictions in Southeast Asia, with a broader interest in inventive strategies of the marginalised that work around institutional confines. In addition, she has a keen interest in and has been writing about heritage practices in China.