The Heritage of War

by Gegner; Martin

• ISBN13: 9780415593298
• ISBN10: 0415593298
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-09-20
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The Heritage of Warexamines the nexus between cultural heritage and identity as it is defined and redefined through war and remembrance of war. The experience of war and its destructive effects has been fundamental to the formation and sustenance of identities. The key concerns of this volume are the disputes over, and management of, the destruction, preservation, reconstruction and interpretation of cultural heritage sites whose significance is attributable to the events of war. In this most potent of contexts, this book provides an appreciation of the ways in which cultural heritage and its management is fundamentally linked to dynamic and constantly changing conceptions of identity. The remembrance of war and conflict has been and remains a defining aspect of personal, communal and national identities. Cultural heritage, as a series of objects, places, practices, and indeed memories, is fundamental to sustaining those identities over time, and allowing them to adapt to new conditions, new histories, and new conceptions of person and community. The Heritage of Warinvestigates that process on a series of levels and in immediate and long-term contexts. It utilises conceptions of cultural heritage as both tangible and intangible, and exposes their fundamental intersections. At these points, meaning is produced and invested by those devoted to remembrance of people and places transformed by conflict. The Heritage of Waranalyses the politics, policy and practice of cultural heritage of war sites both beyond living memory, and from recent conflicts still seeking different forms of resolution. It takes the broadest possible approach to conflict across the globe in time and space, investigating the diverse of cultural contexts in which heritage management occurs today. Through case studies ranging from the mobilisation of the Incan past in South America to the most recent conflicts in Rwanda and Beirut, it identifies the major challenges for international heritage practice in places of profound competition over ownership and interpretation, and explores the key issues likely to shape the cultural heritage field well into the 21stcentury.