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Notes on Authenticity and Development of Cultural Heritage in Syria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2020

Anas Soufan
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Abstract

According to the Syrian philosopher T. Tizini (1934–2019), the dilemma of authenticity heritage in the Arab world has lost its factual conceptualization. While its societal and ideological issues have been rightly discussed, its technical aspects have been handled only superficially. In this article, I review the deep interconnectivities between the societal and technical aspects of the term “authenticity” and the reconstruction of the damaged architectural heritage in Syria after years of a devastating war. I suggest that any postwar reconstruction raises a central contradiction: rebuilding an element from the past in the present. While the destroyed physical fabrics might be reconstituted, the setting that gave them value and meaning can never be reestablished. For that reason, preserving the “authenticity” in the wide significance of the term seems unrealistic in the context of reconstructed heritage. Nevertheless, what several Syrian scholars and politicians describe as “authenticity by creativity” might be a possible outcome.

Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 27 , Special Issue 2: Special Issue: Authenticity and Reconstruction , May 2020 , pp. 189 - 213
Copyright
© Donald Critchlow and Cambridge University Press 2020

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Footnotes

Historian of Art, Architect, and Artist affiliated with the Maison des Artistes de Paris, President of NABNI-H (organization for architectural and historic studies), Paris, France; Email: asoufan@nabni-h.com

References

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