Negotiating Authenticity in the Digital Mediation of Traditional Craftsmanship: Evidence from Peking Opera Costume Production

Abstract

This study examines how digital mediation reshapes the understanding and enactment of authenticity within traditional craftsmanship. Drawing on an interpretive qualitative case study of Peking Opera costume production in China, it explores how artisans and designers negotiate cultural meaning as digital tools become embedded in everyday craft practices. Rather than approaching digitalization as a purely technical intervention, the study conceptualizes it as a cultural process through which authenticity is interpreted, articulated, and sustained in practice.