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| TRANSLOCAL DYNAMIC AND THE LOCAL RECONSTRUCTION: FROM “PURGATORY” TO “HEAVEN” IN SHIMENKAN |
| YUAN Zhen-jie, ZHU Hong |
| Center for Cultural Industry and Cultural Geography, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China |
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Abstract The approach of translocal, which concerns the way of the negotiation between places, is the important lens to understand the ethnic identity and it is also playing an important role in the (re)construction of local social network. In this paper, we attempt to explore the entanglements between translocal dynamics and the construction and reconstruction of ethnic identity and thus the meaning of place. Furthermore, we collected relevant secondary data from laws and regulations at various scales (center government, province government, county government and local town government), and hoped to offer insights into the state's expressed ideologies. In doing so, our theoretical and empirical founding are three fold: 1) a growing geographical body of literature has recently been developing on translocal, but there is few studies in and on China.2) with the help of the Christian missionary, Da Hua Miao ethnic group in Shimenkan, Guizhou initiated the translocal dynamics with western, transformed themselves to the "leading group" from the slavery, consequently achieved the revival by absorbing the western technologies, values and reconstructing the ethnic identity. 3) Plus, The ability of self-organization, the acquisition of the local discourse of power and subject position, reflected the "self-empowerment" of Da Hua Miao ethnic group and drastically reconstructed their sense of place. The significances of this article can be ascribed to 1)introducing the terminology of translocal, 2)uncovering the convoluted relationship between translocal, place and identity, and 3) putting the analysis under the social context of China.
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Received: 01 November 2012
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2013, Vol. 28 
