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Réf.

42747

Type

article

Titre

‘Authenticity’ for the visited or for the visitors? ‘Collective memory’, ‘collective imagination’ and a view from the future

Langues

English

Auteurs

Benson, Ciaran

Maison d'édition

ICOMOS

Date

18/01/2002

Pages

11 p.

Titre de la revue

ICOMOS University Forum

ISSN

2616-6968

Mots-clés

reconstruction / theory of conservation / theory of restoration / presentation / memory / collective memory / collective imagination / social changes / authenticity / psychology / philosophy of conservation / cultural significance / values / social aspects / doctrine / economic aspects

Résumé en anglais

From the viewpoint of a psychology that is interested in how cultures shape and colour conscious states, selves, identities, emotions, memories, allegiances and so on, this paper reflects on the ways in which ideas from psychology characterise the thinking of policymakers in the area of heritage conservation and restoration. Specifically, it focuses on ideas of ‘memory’ and ‘authenticity’. It asks whether the concept of ‘authenticity’ is culturally and historically relative, and how it works towards an ideal of global unity, such as is espoused by the United Nations. It reviews how ‘personal memory’ relates to the notion of ‘collective memory’, and suggests that this latter idea is metaphorical in nature. It argues that a productive emphasis for those interested in monuments and sites might now be on the idea of ‘collective imagination’ rather than just on that of ‘collective memory’. This in turn would support the need to develop a greater understanding of the visitors to heritage sites, as well as on developing an understanding of what it is they are visiting. It concludes by speculating on the profound changes underway with world population growth, urbanisation, and the pervasive implications of the development of digital and virtual realities. It ends with the question of whether it matters that people may increasingly be unable to distinguish ‘the ersatz’ from ‘the real’, ‘the authentic’ from ‘the imaginatively (re)constructed’?

Document joint

7_BENSON.pdf

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike (BY-NC-SA)