Paradigm Alienation in Guangdong Dragon Boat Singing: 
Cultural Tourism Spectacles and the Transformation of Primordial Performance Traditions

Juan Luo

doi:10.70711/rcha.v4i5.9725

Paradigm Alienation in Guangdong Dragon Boat Singing: Cultural Tourism Spectacles and the Transformation of Primordial Performance Traditions

Juan Luo

Abstract

Dragon Boat Singing (Longchuan shuochang), a Guangdong oral-narrative tradition of Qing Dynasty origin, embodies a primordial
performance paradigm constituted by spatial, temporal, social, and aesthetic norms inseparable from Pearl River Delta community ritual. Contemporary cultural tourism mobilises this National ICH as spectacle, generating structural alienation across four dimensions: spatial displacement from ritual to commercial stages; temporal dislocation from festival calendars to on-demand schedules; social restructuring from communal expression to commodified labour; and aesthetic standardisation eroding practitioner agency. Drawing on staged authenticity and ICH
alienation frameworks, the paper proposes a community-centred model reconciling development with paradigm preservation.

Keywords

Dragon boat singing; Longchuan shuochang; Intangible cultural heritage; Cultural tourism; Performance alienation; Staged authenticity; Primordial performance paradigm; Pearl River Delta

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.70711/rcha.v4i5.9725

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