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The Mediatized Transfer of Craft Presence: Presentation, Meaning, and Transmission of Craft-Based Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Short-Video Era

Zhiming Ren, Yun Xing

Study on Journalism and Communication / 2026,6(1): 12-21 / 2026-08-07 17 12

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• Information:

  College of Communication, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou

• Keywords:
  Craft-based intangible cultural heritage; Short-video platforms; Mediatized transfer; Craft presence; Cultural transmission
• Abstract: This study examines how craft-based intangible cultural heritage (ICH) knowledge is digitally reconstructed on short-video platforms through the framework of mediatized transfer of craft presence. Using virtual ethnography and multimodal discourse analysis, it analyzes representative videos and comment interactions from leading ICH creators on Douyin and Bilibili, including Li Ziqi, Peng Chuanming, and Jiang Xunqian. The study finds that short-video dissemination does not necessarily undermine the authenticity of traditional craft. Instead, it generates a new form of living transmission through three mechanisms. First, at the level of presentation, short videos translate embodied craft experience into digital images through sensory compensation, including haptic visuality and soundscape construction. Second, at the level of meaning, traditional craft is transformed from productive practice into an aesthetic and symbolic carrier of life aesthetics, labor ethics, cultural memory, and identity. Third, at the level of transmission, algorithmic distribution gathers interest-based communities, encourages participatory practice, and channels online attention back into material industries and offline transmission. The study concludes that short-video-based ICH practice offers a digital trajectory for the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s fine traditional culture.
• DOI: 10.35534/sjc.0601002 (registering DOI)
• Cite: Ren, Z. M., & Xing, Y. (2026). The Mediatized Transfer of Craft Presence: Presentation, Meaning, and Transmission of Craft-Based Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Short-Video Era. Study on Journalism and Communication, 6(1), 12−21.