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The Politics of Preservation: Privileging One Heritage over Another

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2014

Jonathan S. Bell
Jonathan S. Bell*
Affiliation:
Department of Urban Planning, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, 3250 Public Affairs Building, Box 951656, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656. Email: jsbell@ucla.edu.
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Abstract:

Heritage preservation is distinctly political, often presenting a privileged elitist interpretation of historic sites, while denigrating or even destroying later significant built environments. Structures that are the emanation of subsequent cultures, but similarly tied to the place, are often undervalued, underinterpreted, and even purposely obliterated from the landscape. This article considers the politics of heritage related to privileging one type of historic structure to the complete detriment of the other. The example of Gurna, in Egypt, serves as a powerful case study for the loss of a living historic built environment solely for the simplified or “flattened” interpretation of a place. In highlighting the preferential protection and presentation of the World Heritage Site of the Theban Necropolis and ultimate demise of the historic hamlets of Gurna, the article builds on previous work in the field on interpretation, the impact of tourism, and the conflicting identities of historic sites.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , November 2013 , pp. 431 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2013 

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