Safeguarding food heritage through social media? Between heritagization and commercialization

Abstract

During the food heritagization process, the question about the relationship of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH) to the commercialization of cultural practices has been raised. The recent articulation of ICH projects and social media platforms in China could be seen as a new attempt to promote and commercialize ICH practices. This article investigates this question by studying the heritagization and commercialization of local food traditions through a social media platform – Douyin (also known as TikTok outside of China) in Zhanjiang (Guangdong Province, China). When hashtag campaigns on social media can facilitate ICH safeguarding and even accelerate its commercialization, the case study could offer an insight into different local stakeholders’ ideas about the concept of food-related ICH and their responses to the digital commercial situation.