Leisure, heritage, and identity: a case study of Malaysian Chinese 24 Festive Drums performance

ABSTRACT

This study aims to explore the relationships among leisure, heritage, and identity through the case study of Malaysian Chinese 24 Festive Drums Performance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 respondents who were members of the Chinese diaspora from Malaysia currently studying in China and practising 24 Festive Drums as their leisure activity. The findings showed that the three components are interrelated: (a) as identity carrier, heritage confirmed identity, while identity helped to spread the heritage; (b) identity served as a motivation for leisure, which in turn increased leisure participation and strengthened identity; (c) heritage was promoted as leisure practice, which further developed as serious leisure. This study has theoretical contributions in developing a triangular model of interrelationships between leisure, heritage, and identity. Furthermore, practical implications were discussed on demonstrating the potential of the role of leisure in heritage promotion and identity construction.

KEYWORDS:

• Leisure
• heritage
• identity
• Malaysian Chinese
• 24 Festive Drums Performance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [72274171, 71904164].

Notes on contributors

Xinyan Xie

Xinyan Xie, is a doctoral student majoring in leisure studies at School of Philosophy, Zhejiang University. Her research interests include leisure and culture, leisure and work.

Xin Yi Siau

Xin Yi Siau, is a Simplified Chinese Translation Specialist at Marketing In-house Translation Team, Oracle Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. She holds a Master in Translation and Interpretation from School of International Studies, Zhejiang University. Her research interest is translation, leisure and culture.

Huimei Liu

Huimei Liu Ph.D, is a Professor at School of Philosophy, Academy of Tourism and Leisure; Zhejiang University, China. She is also an invited professor at Hangzhou City University. Her research covers philosophical, cultural, and social psychological aspects of leisure studies.