Abstract

In the heritage site of Luang Prabang, Laos, international and local stakeholders employ the practices and rhetoric of conservation to constitute and reaffirm their belonging to imagined national communities. By negotiating with each other the preservation of old houses and temple rites, French heritage experts reaffirm the role of France as a universal civilizing power, Laotians validate the status of Laos as pearl of unsullied Buddhism, and Thai tourists enhance their status as a modern, progressive nation. While many studies have linked heritage with colonial and national identity, we demonstrate how a single site may serve to confirm multiple national identities through friction with significant cultural others. Heritagization may thus be both a repressive, as well as a creative force in forging dynamically evolving identities.

摘要

在老挝琅勃拉邦遗址，国际和地方利益相关者采用保护的做法和言论来构成并重申他们对想象中的国家社区的归属。通过相互协商保护老房子和寺庙仪式，法国遗产专家重申了法国作为世界文明强国的作用，老挝人证实了老挝作为清净佛教明珠的地位，泰国游客提升了他们作为现代、进步民族。虽然许多研究将遗产与殖民地和民族身份联系起来，但我们展示了一个地点如何通过与重要的文化他人的摩擦来确认多重民族身份。因此，在打造动态演变的身份认同方面，遗产化可能既是一种压制性的力量，也是一种创造性的力量。