Conceptualising the subjective authenticity of intangible cultural heritage

Authenticity is a significant concept in the heritage field. However, the connotations of authenticity and its relevance to Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) need further consideration. This paper ascertains the function of authenticity in the heritage field and reconceptualises authenticity so as to relate it to ICH. The subjectivities of ICH practitioners, as well as their subjective perspectives and experiences are privileged in this research, in line with the general aims of Critical Heritage Studies. Drawing on the idea of ‘existential authenticity’, which was developed in tourism studies, this paper presents a concept of ‘subjective authenticity’ with which to describe the ability of ICH practitioners to convey the dynamic, subjective and developing ICH values in both intrapersonal and interpersonal embodiments. Using case studies of ICH from Lijiang, China, the idea of subjective authenticity is evidenced and illustrated. Meanwhile, the materialist or ‘objective’ authenticity that exists in the Chinese Authorised Heritage Discourse is critiqued as inappropriate. Theoretically, this paper investigates people’s subjectivities and experiences in the process of ICH value-making, as well as identity-making. The results contribute not only to the establishment of an inclusive concept of authenticity in heritage studies, but also to the theorisation of existential authenticity in tourism studies.