The Development Paths Of Village Heritage In The Perspective Of Critical Heritage Studies

Critical heritage studies promote a "post-Westernist perspective" on the conservation,development and use of heritage,moving beyond the key issues of heritage itself and focusing critical attention on social issues related to heritage with a wider scope.In this context,traditional village heritage has become a typical research object in critical heritage studies.Some traditional villages have taken advantage of the opportunity to be inscribed on the World Heritage List and adopted a series of effective and rational coping strategies to become a World Heritage Site and to be protected by the UNESCO Heritage Organization.In this process,the villages have been able to bring out their unique cultural values and develop their unique local resources to the greatest extent.However,in this process,we should not only pay attention to the result of the village becoming a World Heritage Site,but also pay attention to a series of issues related to the game between the multiple subjects of the heritage and the infringement and transfer of their rights.Hongcun and Xidi are the first traditional villages in China to be inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage List.Through fieldwork,visits and research,and combined with literature,this paper sorts out the history of the villages,the process of their inscription,and the current situation of the villages after their inscription.In this paper,the author further proposes how the villages can explore a more coordinated development path after becoming a world heritage site.Based on this,the main contents and structural framework of the full paper are as follows:First,the research vision of this paper,critical heritage studies,is introduced.Critical heritage studies advocates seeking a harmonious and balanced relationship between conservation and utilization based on meeting the reasonable needs of contemporary people and the needs of social development,and creating a space where people and people,people and things can negotiate on an equal footing.Next,I introduce the distinction between traditional heritage research and critical heritage research,which leads to the main ideas of critical heritage research and its influence;on top of these theoretical foundations,I go to Hongcun and Xidi to conduct research,sort out the process of Hongcun and Xidi’s inscription,and summarize the impact of becoming a world heritage site on the two villages in three aspects:cultural,social and economic.Finally,the author focuses on heritage tourism,which has the greatest impact on village heritage,and explores the relationship between local communities and government,villagers and tourists behind the prevalence of heritage tourism;finally,based on the theoretical proposition of critical heritage research and the actual problems found in Hongcun and Xidi,the author mainly focuses on the government and local communities,and proposes corresponding research strategies for how the villages can come out of a harmonious and balanced development path in the future.the paper proposes corresponding research strategies for the future development of villages in a harmonious and balanced way.Through the above-mentioned research,this paper draws the following conclusions:after the traditional villages became World Heritage Sites,the economy developed rapidly,the living standard of residents improved significantly,and tourism became an important local industry.As a result,more and more foreign operators and tourists have entered the villages,impacting the original social structure and relationship network of the villages,and the local culture and foreign culture have collided.However,the conservation and utilization activities of villages are still affected by the inertia of traditional heritage research,such as the emphasis on"things" rather than "people" and the lack of community participation.Critical heritage research challenges traditional heritage research and its authoritative heritage discourse by paying more attention to the general public and advocating community participation,providing inspiration for discovering hidden problems in village heritage and re-discovering new and viable paths.