Author(s)

YiWu Zhou

Affiliation(s)

Zhejiang Gongshang University Hangzhou College of Commerce, Hangzhou 311500, Zhejiang, China.

Corresponding Author

YiWu Zhou

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the digital literacy crisis facing Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) inheritors in China, a group pivotal for cultural sustainability yet increasingly marginalized in the digital public sphere. Focusing on marriage custom inheritors in Zhejiang Province, we develop and validate a "Culture-Communication" oriented tripartite model of digital literacy—comprising survival, production, and communication competencies. Employing a mixed-methods approach (N=317 survey; n=15 interviews), the research reveals severe structural imbalances in digital competencies, marked by a critical deficit in content production skills. Significant geographic and generational "mirror fractures" are identified, where technical proficiency and cultural authority are inversely distributed across age groups. A Structural Equation Model confirms digital production competency as the primary driver of perceived communication efficacy (Total β=0.78). The findings diagnose a triple rupture chain—subjective, technical, and institutional—constraining effective digital dissemination. In response, the study proposes an integrated "Three-Path Synergy & Five-Dimensional Empowerment" framework. This model advocates for systemic interventions at individual, organizational, and policy levels to enhance literacy, coupled with strategic empowerment in content, IP, platforms, community, and ecosystem development. The framework aims to facilitate inheritors' subjectivity reconstruction from passive cultural holders to proactive digital communicators, offering a actionable pathway for ICH's adaptive evolution within national cultural digitalization strategies.

KEYWORDS

Intangible cultural heritage; Digital literacy; Cultural communication; Digital divide; Mediatization; China; Zhejiang

CITE THIS PAPER

YiWu Zhou. Bridging the digital-cultural divide: digital literacy and communicative empowerment of ICH inheritors in China. Trends in Social Sciences and Humanities Research. 2025, 3(8): 37-40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/tsshr3202.

REFERENCES

[1] Couldry N, Hepp A. The mediated construction of reality. Polity Press, 2017.

[2] Hjarvard S. The mediatization of culture and society. Routledge, 2013.

[3] Carretero S, Vuorikari R, Punie Y. DigComp 2.1: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens with eight proficiency levels and examples of use. Publications Office of the European Union, 2017.

[4] Ginley B. Digital Literacy and Cultural Heritage: A Review of the Literature. IFLA, 2013.

[5] Li J. Digital preservation of intangible cultural heritage in China: A review. Library Hi Tech, 2022.

[6] Katz E, Blumler J G, Gurevitch M. Uses and gratifications research. The public opinion quarterly, 1973, 37(4): 509-523.

[7] van Dijk J A. The digital divide. John Wiley & Sons 2020.

[8] Wang X, Chen Y. The dilemma and path of intangible cultural heritage transmission in the digital age. Cultural Heritage, 2021(5): 12-19.

[9] Jenkins H. Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU press, 2006.

[10] UNESCO. Text of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. 2003.