Imagining and consuming cultures: Nostalgia and domestic tourism development in Taiwan

Abstract

This paper looks at the Jenju community at Ilan in Taiwan to examine how community cultures are invented for the purpose of identity building and domestic tourism development. These community cultures are constructed by the efforts of several parties, including government officers at the Council for Cultural Affairs, the Country Cultural Council, intellectuals, business people, cultural workers, and residents. The representative objects of the local community are reworked and portrayed as art and commodities for commemoration and for sale. I examine the process involved in creating a nostalgic past and building a community niche for tourism development.