The History of Heritage Interpretation explores significant events in the history of the field, from its origins with the elders of tribal villages through the development of professional organizations around the world, with specific emphasis on the National Association for Interpretation in the United States.
The publication is the first in a new series on existing and innovative paradigms in Heritage Studies. The series aims at systematising and developing the academic discourse on heritage, which has yielded a wealth and breadth of contributions over the past few years. The publication offers its own emphasis by developing heritage studies with a perspective towards and as a contribution to human development. It thus offers a vision for the construction and establishment of a new discipline. The academic mainsprings and research interests of this repositioning of heritage studies as an academic discipline are discussed by internationally renowned thinkers and heritage practitioners. The publication thus establishes first important points for discussion. Central to this publication are questions concerning the sustainable protection and use of heritage, focussing on the world cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage, but equally questions on the relation of heritage and memory and how these could mutually enrich our understanding of heritage.
An essential guide to present practice and policy concerning issues in heritage management, Heritage Interpretation draws on the accumulated expertise and international reputation for excellence of the UK heritage industry to describe and analyze best practice in heritage interpretation. The contributors, all responsible for developing best practices, come from a range of heritage organizations including English Heritage, The National Trust, Historic Scotland, CADW and National Parks. They draw on examples from throughout the UK, from public art and twentieth-century military remains, to cathedrals and urban heritage, and discuss the range of interpretive options available and how they can be appropriately tailored to specific places and audiences. Providing practical guidance on interpretive techniques, the book provides insights into the philosophies and thinking that underpins their adoption in particular contexts. This clear and easy guide is an valuable addition to the reading list of any student of history or heritage studies.
Focusing on the agency of enslaved Africans and their descendants in the South, this work argues for the systematic unveiling and recovery of subjugated knowledge, histories, and cultural practices of those traditionally silenced and overlooked by national heritage projects and national public memories. Jackson uses both ethnographic and ethnohistorical data to show the various ways African Americans actively created and maintained their own heritage and cultural formations. Viewed through the lens of four distinctive plantation sites—including the one on which that the ancestors of First Lady Michelle Obama lived—everyday acts of living, learning, and surviving profoundly challenge the way American heritage has been constructed and represented. A fascinating, critical view of the ways culture, history, social policy, and identity influence heritage sites and the business of heritage research management in public spaces.
Every year millions of Americans visit national parks and monuments, state and municipal parks, battlefields, historic houses, and museums. By means of guided walks and talks, tours, exhibits, and signs, visitors experience these areas through a very special kind of communication technique known as ''interpretation.'' For fifty years, Freeman Tilden's Interpreting Our Heritage has been an indispensable sourcebook for those who are responsible for developing and delivering interpretive programs. This expanded and revised anniversary edition includes not only Tilden's classic work but also an entirely new selection of accompanying photographs as well as five additional essays by Tilden on the art and craft of interpretation. Whether the challenge is to make a prehistoric site come to life; to explain the geological basis behind a particular rock formation; to touch the hearts and minds of visitors to battlefields, historic homes, and sites; or to teach a child about the wonders of the natural world, Tilden's book, with its explanation of the famed ''six principles'' of interpretation, provides a guiding hand.
Marie Antoinette at Petit Trianon challenges common perceptions of the last Queen of France, appraising the role she played in relation to the events of French Revolution through an original analysis of contemporary heritage practices and visitor perceptions at her former home, the Petit Trianon. Controversy and martyrdom have placed Marie Antoinette’s image within a spectrum of cultural caricatures that range from taboo to iconic. With a foundation in critical heritage studies, this book examines the diverse range of contemporary images portraying Marie Antoinette’s historical character, showing how they affect the interpretation and perception of the Petit Trianon. By considering both producers and receivers of these cultural heritage exponents - Marie Antoinette’s historical figure and the historic house museum of the Petit Trianon - the book expands current understandings of twenty-first century cultural heritage perceptions in relation to tourism and popular culture. A useful case study for academics, researchers and postgraduate students of cultural heritage, it will also be of interest to historians, keepers of house museums and those working in the field of tourism studies.
To reconstruct or not to reconstruct? That is the question facing many agencies and site managers throughout the world. While reconstructed sites provide a three-dimensional pedagogic environment in which visitors can acquire a heightened sense of the past, an ethical conflict emerges when on-site reconstructions and restorations contribute to the damage or destruction of the original archaeological record. The case studies in this volume contribute to the ongoing debates between data and material authenticity and educational and interpretive value of reconstructions. Discussing diverse reconstruction sites from the Golan Region to Colonial Williamsburg, the authors present worldwide examples that have been affected by agency policies, divergent presentation philosophies, and political and economic realities.
Examining international case studies including USA, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, this book 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, it demonstrates how it gives tangibility to the values that underpin different communities.