Cultural heritage management

Negotiation

Ecology

Heritage tourism

Biology

Construct (python library)

Exhibition

Collective memory

Gender studies

Face (sociological concept)

Collective identity

Tourism

Computer science

Visual arts

Identity negotiation

Resistance (ecology)

Identity (music)

Aesthetics

Politics

Cultural heritage

Political science

Sociology

Identity politics

Programming language

Media studies

Social science

Annals of Tourism Research

This paper adopts collective memory theory to reveal processes through which heritage tourism stakeholders (re)construct contested national identity. Theoretically sensitised to identity crisis, the study analyses how Hong Kong and Macao heritage managers utilise complex transnational memories to (re)construct an identity aligned with, yet distinct from, that of China. Through a critical discourse analysis of interviews and discursive exhibition and museum texts, the article reveals that museum managers formulate heritage imaginings and a sense of belonging(s) through defining the collective memory for "Self" and "Other". The article concludes that, by collective memory-building, museum professionals make tangible statements of national identities through legitimating negotiations and resistance in heritage tourism discourse. Implications for heritage tourism studies and museum management are also discussed.

Politics of memories: Identity construction in museums