Uses of Heritage

by Laurajane Smith

Examining international case studies including USA, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Laurajane Smith identifies and explores the use of heritage throughout the world. Challenging the idea that heritage value is self-evident, and that things must be preserved because they have an inherent importance, Smith forcefully demonstrates that heritage value is not inherent in physical objects or places, but rather that these objects and places are used to give tangibility to the values that underpin different communities and to assert and affirm these values. A practically grounded accessible examination of heritage as a cultural practice, The Uses of Heritage is global in its benefit to students and field professionals alike.

Genres: Cultural Heritage, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Politics, Academic

Paperback

First published June 22, 2005

Reviews

[Guðrún Úlfarsdóttir]

Mjög gagnleg! Ég elska bækur sem víkka skilning minn á nútímanum. Fannst eiginlega áhugaverðastar lýsingar hennar á authorized heritage discourse sem grasserar alveg æðislega hér á landi. Minnti mig á heimsókn mína í geymslu Þjóðminjasafnsins sem var alveg ótrúlega skondin sýn. Hún leit alveg út eins og venjulegur lager — nema hillurnar voru fullar af predikunarstólum og kistlum og hvaðeina. En svo voru líka hillur með hestasteinum og rúmfjölum sem augu utan „leyfðu menningararfsorðræðunnar“ kynnu að sjá sem grjót og spýtur. Þessi mikla sveifla á merkingu og meiningu finnst mér svo áhugaverð, nútíminn dýrkar fortíðina svo mikið að við dýrkum meira að segja það sem fortíðin dýrkaði ekki.

[ofronio]

The book pushed me to think about heritage differently. Far from being objective and neutral, the identification of a site as heritage speaks to how the past the site represents is moved to cater to present-day cultural, political needs

[Sigrun]

Useful but gets the eyelids heavy.

[Cristian]

Laurajane desarrolla su análisis sobre los "usos y desusos" de la herencia cultural con las lentes del AHD (siglas en inglés para Discurso Autorizado de Herencia), un interesante término que engloba el discurso tradicional de los arqueólogos, los coleccionistas y los filántropos de época colonial, los primeros en juzgar qué era cultura y qué no. Con esas lentes, Laurajane deconstruye diversos ejemplos en los que el AHD se enfrenta en "disonancia" con discursos modernos sobre qué es la cultura, cómo conservarla y qué componente social y moral conlleva.

Los primeros tres capítulos explica lo que es el AHD, cómo ha evolucionado históricamente, cómo se ha resistido a cambios desde su posición de poder y finalmente cómo las instituciones para la conservación y selección de sitios/artefactos/intangibles culturales nacieron de este poderoso lobby. Su análisis combina estudios post-coloniales, perspectivas indígenas y en cuanto a las relaciones de poder, como no, las teorías de Foucault. El libro ofrece perspectivas muy interesantes sobre qué significa preservar, por qué y para quién debemos hacerlo. Si bien en ocasiones su teoría se vuelve repetitiva y algunos ejemplos quizá a juicio de algunos sean más bien localizados, es un libro muy bien estructurado y que permite entrar en los nuevos discursos sobre qué hacer con nuestra cultura.

[Raytown]

Very valuable in getting me thinking critically about heritage, whether tangible or intangible. However, it was often repetitive to the point of exhaustion, with a handful of ideas continuously repackaged and reworded - and while I don't deny the power of clever repetition, this felt excessive for no good reason.

[Olivia Church]

So many aha! moments in this book which have been super useful in untangling the messy web of the 'Authorised Heritage Discourse' and special interest groups seeking agency and legitimacy over their own discourses.

[Isaac Wolter]

This book should have been left an essay. The added content does nothing but slow the book down and make it almost unreadable.

[Dora Bradley]

It’s heavily riddled with Jargon and reads like a thesis, but I did enjoy it and learned a great deal from it.