This article engages with discourses of public memory and heritage as constituted by the biography of David Livingstone to understand how the past is instrumentalised in present-day Malawi and Scotland. It discusses how in Malawi and Scotland, Livingstone’s memory has influenced, and continues to influence, the making of bilateral relations between these two nations. Drawing on archival and documentary sources, interviews and exhibition analysis the article argues that the memory and mythology of David Livingstone have been preserved and reconstructed to enhance international co-operation between the two nations in what could be understood as ‘heritage diplomacy’. This heritage diplomacy makes claims to a mutual relationship that spans from Livingstone’s arrival on Malawian territory through the colonial period and into the post-colonial present. Moreover, this heritage diplomacy functions to create and strengthen strategic bilateral economic, cultural and political ties. At the same time, it promotes and solidifies Scotland’s national identity and its aspirations to sovereignty, autonomy and to the status of a global player. Commemorations, memorials, museum exhibitions, state institutions and civil organisations have become the main sites through which Livingstone’s memory is invoked or reconstructed as a shared heritage to facilitate international co-operation. The article contributes to our understanding of how heritage diplomacy is mobilised by nations to reinforce relations and promote their interests.

本文涉及由大卫·利文斯通的传记构成的公共记忆和遗产的话语，以了解过去如何在当今的马拉维和苏格兰被利用。它讨论了在马拉维和苏格兰，利文斯顿的记忆如何影响并继续影响这两个国家之间双边关系的形成。文章利用档案和文献资料、采访和展览分析认为，大卫·利文斯通的记忆和神话得到了保存和重建，以加强两国之间的国际合作，这可以被理解为“遗产外交”。这种遗产外交主张从利文斯通到达马拉维领土到殖民时期一直到后殖民时期的相互关系。此外，这种遗产外交的作用是建立和加强战略性的双边经济、文化和政治联系。与此同时，它促进和巩固苏格兰的国家认同及其对主权、自治和全球参与者地位的渴望。纪念活动、纪念馆、博物馆展览、国家机构和民间组织已成为利文斯通记忆被调用或重建为共同遗产以促进国际合作的主要场所。本文有助于我们理解各国如何利用遗产外交来加强关系并促进其利益。它促进和巩固苏格兰的国家认同及其对主权、自治和全球参与者地位的渴望。纪念活动、纪念馆、博物馆展览、国家机构和民间组织已成为利文斯通记忆被调用或重建为共同遗产以促进国际合作的主要场所。本文有助于我们理解各国如何利用遗产外交来加强关系并促进其利益。它促进和巩固苏格兰的国家认同及其对主权、自治和全球参与者地位的渴望。纪念活动、纪念馆、博物馆展览、国家机构和民间组织已成为利文斯通记忆被调用或重建为共同遗产以促进国际合作的主要场所。本文有助于我们理解各国如何利用遗产外交来加强关系并促进其利益。国家机构和民间组织已成为利文斯通记忆被援引或重建为共同遗产以促进国际合作的主要场所。本文有助于我们理解各国如何利用遗产外交来加强关系并促进其利益。国家机构和民间组织已成为利文斯通记忆被援引或重建为共同遗产以促进国际合作的主要场所。本文有助于我们理解各国如何利用遗产外交来加强关系并促进其利益。