A case of local rejection of a heritage tourism policy: tourism and dynamics of change in Abondance,French Alps

Despite the opportunities offered by developing and enhancing cultural heritage in the tourism sector, this article, based on a case study of a little town in the French Alps, shows that public policy of this type may also be subject to criticism and dispute. In the town of Abondance, a small ski resort being converted to cultural tourism site built around heritage, the demonstration observed involved both a desire to keep the skiing and a questioning of the political process, but also a rejection of the alternative solution involving the development of the cultural heritage of the Gothic Court of Savoy. During the qualitative survey of the social reactions, three types of arguments have been raised. (1) As summarised by one of the local leaders ‘the people do not believe in it’. Indeed, local shopkeepers are sceptical that cultural tourism will draw numerous visitors, and fear that is not economically viable. (2) In contrast to the ski resort, heritage tourism is only attached to the imagination of old age, immobility and even death, as if seniority of places necessarily corresponds to seniority of public and images. (3) For residents of the town, setting up a localised visit site has disadvantages because of the turnover of touristic traffic to which this type of tourism is exposed.     

古村落旅游社会文化影响:居民感知、态度与行为的关系——以广西龙脊平安寨为例

以龙脊平安寨为例,从居民感知的视角,通过构建结构方程模型对古村落的旅游社会文化影响进行研究,探讨居民主体因素与旅游社会文化影响感知、社区发展满意度及行为倾向之间的关系。主要结论:(1)居民文化认同感越强,对旅游社会文化影响的正向或负向感知越强。(2)居民的旅游参与程度越高,对旅游社会文化影响的正面感知越强。(3)居民对旅游社会文化影响的正向或负向感知越强烈,对社区发展的肯定或否定评价越强。(4)居民对旅游社会文化影响的正向或负向感知越强烈,其支持或反对旅游开发的行为倾向越明显。研究还对旅游开发中古村落的社会文化传承和发展提出建议。     

Villagers’ agency in the Intangible Cultural Heritage designation of a Korean village ritual

This paper examines how the villagers of Pams?m village in Seoul acted as agents in configuring their own cultural identity which explores issues concerning Korea’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) designation system. It delves in detail how villagers practice their ritual of Pams?m Pugundang kut ? amidst the complex process of continuity and change as a way of sustaining and promoting collective village identity. By examining the implications of this cultural practices in contemporary society, this paper ultimately raises the question of who constitutes the true legatee of traditional culture of Pams?m village. The cultural practice of the Pams?m Pugundang kut carried out by the villagers of Pams?m can be interpreted not merely as a critique of the dynamics of political and cultural heritage, but the reconstruction of villager’s identity through the creation and continuation of their long village history. This study provides a useful case in examining a village community which describes in detail how the subject of this study constructs their cultural identity and faces the complex issues concerning Korea’s ICH designation system.     

城中村遗产价值——公共地理学视角与深圳案例

运用公共地理学方法,讨论城中村的文化遗产价值。文章考察了新老两代村民和四类不同租户构成的核心群体,对于城中村的认知、记忆和情感的差异与代际隔阂。研究发现,以深圳为案例的南方中国的城中村,出现原住民业主被大量外来租户逐步替代、导致传统宗族村落文化难以后继、并从"落脚城市"向"可居社区"成熟转变的发展趋势。城中村的文化遗产被识别为"半村半城"的混合型生活文化、以乡镇企业工业遗存和非正规经济为代表的生产文化、凝结移民草根之奋斗精神的理性文化,以及凸显城中村生命活体的感性文化等四个类型。文章认为城中村文化遗产的价值,需要通过社会（代际）与地域空间的双重尺度提升,在公共地理学讨论平台,达成共识。     

Physical Characterization,Microstructural Evaluation,and Condition Assessment of Ancient Ahlat Tombstones in the Seljukian Cemetery of Ahlat (Turkey)

A typical Seljukian town of Ahlat, located between the north-western shores of the Lake Van and the Nemrud and Suphan volcanoes of the Eastern Turkey is hosting rich and colorful cultural heritage sites. Among these, famous Seljukian Cemetery is a major archeological district with monumental tombstones (stelae). Excessive deterioration, erosion and lichen colonization can be observed in these cultural artifacts. The main objective of this study is the investigation of stones’ physical characterization and evaluation of the microstructural features. A degradation model was outlined starting with the capillary water uptake from the bottom section and lichen colonization starting from the top and covering these tombstones upto their mid sections. This article provides some information about the historical town of Ahlat and its tombstones. Some physical and microstructural characterization of the gravestones and the results of chemical and physical analysis are also presented along with some recommendations.     

The New Museum Folkwang in Essen. A Contribution to the Cultural and Economic Regeneration of the Ruhr Area?

Abstract

The “Bilbao effect” shows that major cultural investments can contribute to the regeneration of old industrial cities and regions. Four different contributions can be distinguished: the (1) direct economic effects of such an investment; (2) social functions of a cultural institution which often serves as a point of contact for local and regional elites; (3) symbolic functions as an expression of a new regional identity and (4) cognitive functions, for example, the contribution to regional diversity and the cross-fertilization of ideas. Taking the example of a major cultural investment in Germany, namely the renovation of Museum Folkwang prior to the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010, this article discusses the economic, social, symbolic and cognitive contributions of this investment to the economic transformation of the town and the Ruhr area, which is now one of the largest urban agglomerations in Europe. A Bilbao effect was not intended and did not take place. The museum, however, contributed to the incremental transformation of the town by creating a different image of the town, its role as a meeting place and point of identification for local elites and companies and its contribution to the emergence of an integrated cultural district.     

A Blessing in Disguise: Nanxun and China’s Small Town Heritage

This article analyzes Nanxun, a lower Yangzi delta town known for its silk products, as a case study of China’s development and underdevelopment. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a booming silk trade linked Nanxun to the global market and made it an extraordinarily wealthy town, yet little was achieved in terms of urban development. Scholars have attributed the underdevelopment of Nanxun to economic factors, and perceived it as entirely undesirable. This article argues that a largely overlooked cause of Nanxun’s underdevelopment was the conformist culture of Nanxun’s ruling elite. The merchants who created the wealth of the town by their very natures preferred to create a safe and secluded zone in which the familiarity of their living environment could be preserved and the comfort of a traditional lifestyle assured. The underdevelopment of Nanxun turned out, however, not to be completely negative. The town did not sustain its status as a trading center, nor develop into a major city, but its arrested development preserved much of its original layout and, moreover, its culture. From a cultural and environmental point of view, Nanxun’s underdevelopment may have proved to be more valuable than if the town had become an indistinguishable industrial site.     

‘IT IS MY HOME. I WILL DIE HERE’: TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND THE POLITICS OF PLACE IN LIJIANG,CHINA

Although “home” is an established topic in the literature, what home means for an in situ, non‐travelling population that nevertheless is confronted by the influx of great numbers of tourists and migrants is an important question that has not been widely researched. This article examines the construction and practice of home in a highly mobile world, in the case of Lijiang Ancient Town, a World Heritage site in Yunnan, China. Situating Lijiang in the context of China's emerging consumer society, this article has two objectives. First, I will sketch a conceptual framework within which to address the construction of home in relation to mobility, displacement and socioeconomic changes. The second objective is to examine the multiple ways in which Lijiang's town residents dwell in displacement. Even as Lijiang ancient town largely falls into the hands of migrant businesspersons, town residents employ spatial strategies to maintain a public–private boundary, reconcile themselves to living under the same roof with tourists, or forsake their homes for economic benefit. Hence, this article contributes to the geographies of everyday life by illustrating individuals' multiple forms of strategic rationalization in handling socio‐spatial transformation.     

Geography and Economic Preferences as Cultural Markers in a Border Town: The Faunal Remains from Tel Beth‐Shemesh,Israel

We present a zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal remains at Tel Beth‐Shemesh, a site located in the Shephelah region of Israel, which has been dated to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I. The site, identified as the biblical city of Beth‐Shemesh, was a Canaanite border town between Philistine and Israelite settlements and of great importance in our attempts to understand the social and cultural transformations that occurred in the southern Levant during those periods. This study contributes to a more accurate understanding of the cultural identity of the site's inhabitants by exploring the cultural differences between populations as reflected in their different dietary preferences. We analysed the subsistence economy at the site, the general exploitation patterns, herd management strategies and consumption practices, all of which are based mostly on domestic livestock. We determined the cultural identity at the site mainly by comparing the representation of pig remains with that found at other sites in the region, and offer various explanations for the differences. The comparisons revealed clear differences between Tel Beth‐Shemesh and other known nearby Philistine sites. This site appears to have possessed a self‐contained production and consumption economy with similarities in the general pattern of animal exploitation between the two periods. These similarities constitute evidence for the continuation of the local population and of its culture at the site during the period of turmoil that swept the region during the transition to the Iron Age. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Book Reviews

Heritage is important for the social and cultural health of communities, whilst local stewardship of cultural heritage has the capacity to empower and recover cultural identity. This paper describes a recent project in Lakhnu – a small rural village in Uttar Pradesh, India – to restore a nineteenth century villa formerly used as the village school as an educational facility. In this discussion, we draw attention to the right of groups to manage their culture. The loss of cultural heritage is linked to a loss of identity. We argue that heritage projects have the capacity to empower communities to sustain their heritage and identity and provide useful places for social and material advancement through the concept of a shared ‘symbolic estate’. At Lakhnu, we plan to evoke grass-root conservation where local communities become the rightful stakeholders and decision-makers who are encouraged and facilitated in the realisation of their right to cultural heritage and to stimulate growth and build capacity for the community.     

历史古镇空间格局的解读与再生——以华阳古镇为例

历史古镇经过几千年物质和文化的积淀,形成独特的空间结构,但随着城市功能的注入却使古镇的肌理受到颠覆性的破坏,城镇经济发展与历史文化保护之间的矛盾越来越突出。以陕西省洋县华阳古镇为例,运用"空间结构理论"对其空间体系进行解读,从而提出空间格局再生的思路,这对于保护与弘扬优秀传统文化,促进历史古镇的繁荣发展具有重要的现实意义。     

我国历史文化村镇保护的内容与方法研究

历史化村镇是我国遗产保护体系的重要组成部分,随着第一批中国历史化名镇(村)的命名公布。遗产保护工作又进入了一个崭新阶段。我国历史化村镇保护研究较国外起步较晚,相关研究也欠深入全面。导致在当前城镇化快速发展过程中,一些颇具价值特色的古村镇没有得到很好保护。本首先回顾了国内外历史小城镇、村落保护的演变发展,然后指出历史化村镇保护在价值特性方面,不同于历史化名城;在保护内容方面,要在以往偏重于物质化遗产保护的基础上。进一步加重非物质化遗产的保护;在保护方法方面,要综合运用历史学、地理学、建筑学、社会学、景观生态学等方法,才能达到较好的保护效果。     

Tradisi and Turisme: Music,Dance, and Cultural Transformation at the Ubud Palace,Bali, Indonesia

This article investigates relationships between music and place through analysis of performances for tourists at a prominent site, Puri Saren Agung (the Ubud Palace) in the Balinese village of Ubud. These performances are representative of ways in which Balinese traditional cultural representation is transformed when it is packaged for tourist consumption. Through a number of readings of the palace, potential meanings for music are shown to be dependent on the past and present identities of this site. This is heightened by a view of changes in the palace's status and uses as a metaphor for ongoing developments in Balinese music and dance, and thus of ways in which tourism has been, and continues to be, a force in Balinese cultural production.     

Great Leap or Long March to Knowledge Economy: Institutions,Actors and Resources in the Development of Tampere,Finland

Tampere, the second largest city-region in Finland, has been accustomed to continuous change throughout its history. First, it developed from a small village into Finland's leading industrial town. When traditional industry fell into crisis, Tampere once more had to recreate itself and has since risen to a position in which it is among the top cities on the cutting edge of utilizing the possibilities of new knowledge-based technologies. The objective of this article is to recognize the internal and external forces that have had an impact on the development of Tampere, Finland, as well as the dynamics of the relationships between them. The objective is thus to identify those factors and forces that have laid the foundation for economic change and the development of the new knowledge economy. This article first frames the core concepts used in the analysis, and then, describes and analyses the development of Tampere from a small village into the leading industrial town in Finland, and further, into one of the pre-eminent cities of the knowledge economy.     

四川九寨沟县中查村传统村落的遗产价值及保护研究

九寨沟中查村作为第四批中国传统村落,面临的威胁远大于其他少数民族传统村落,通过田野调查总结出其六大建筑特征,作为九寨沟片区安多藏族民居的基础研究成果。同时,在对中查传统村落濒危民居调研的基础上,揭示村落保护需要以"人"为本,从生存基础建设、社会关系建设、精神场所建设的三个维度来探索,这是从产业到社区,再到文化建设的一个动态过程,为中国西南少数民族地区传统村落保护提供切实可行的理论依据和发展思路。     

The reproduction of heritage in a Chinese village: whose heritage,whose pasts?

The study investigates heritage practices in a Chinese village, by describing the tensions that have played out among different voices, meanings and understandings centred on the village’s heritage. In the process of ‘heritageisation’, stakeholders that include the state, the local government, the villagers and the principal lineage strive to negotiate different cultural meanings, values and the traditions. Consequently, three different heritage discourses coexist alongside each other in one locality. On the one hand, the ‘authorised heritage discourse’ is taken up by the government to weave and frame a narrative of nation-building around a Memorial Park. On the other hand, the village uses the past to foster local identity of the place in an attempt to attract tourists. For its part, the major lineage in the village uses the ancestral hall to continue the long tradition of remembering their ancestors via worshiping ceremonies. In between are a medley of heritage sites and artefacts existing in a state of flux and struggle over their conservation. The authors contend that, no matter how mundane, grand or hybrid, assemblages of rich and locally meaningful heritage, such as depicted in this article, should be cherished and utilised for the present agenda of cultural construction in rural China.     

城市少数民族社区地方认同的消解与重构

在城市空间生产与再生产过程中,城市少数民族社区空间形态及功能的重大改变,需通过地方重构以维系少数民族地方特色及文化传承。开封善义堂回族社区案例研究发现,城市少数民族社区的地方形成以及地方认同建构,依赖于自身独特的居住环境及文化传统。少数民族社区由聚居转变为散居的地方变迁,对居民的地方感知及地方归属感具有重要影响。集中代表地方意义的独特空间,有助于地方及认同的重构。城市少数民族社区中被赋予特殊意义的空间,对地方的建构及文化的传承具有关键作用。     

边界与想象社区的建构:以广州归侨聚居区为例

城市化进程中,逐渐式微的归侨聚居区呈现被符号化的特点,其物质和文化形态的改变在一定程度上强化了“侨文化”的地方再想象,并加剧了边界随之发生的新变化。本文主要采用叙事研究方法,以广州华侨新村为例,尝试探讨在城市化进程中归侨聚居区边界的演变及其对想象的社区的影响,由此进一步解析归侨聚居区符号化的过程与动因。研究发现：①1954年至今,新村归侨共同体维系纽带经历了从国家利益到对幸福生活的向往,再到集体记忆的嬗变,折射出社会环境、空间形态以及邻里关系的变化与归侨的自我认同感、群体认同感之间的耦合关系;②华侨新村不仅是曾经表征爱国主义的物质载体,在资本与权力的支配下归侨聚居区被片面截取并赋予了其它阶层想象的意义和元素。     

Tourism and Community: An Ecuadorian Village Builds on its Past

An archaeological project and a community museum in Agua Blanca, Ecuador, have helped catalyse a remarkable process of ecological and cultural awareness complemented by economic advances. Some twenty-five years after the museum’s inauguration, as well as visiting the archaeological site and museum, tourists can observe the Machalilla National Park’s distinctive flora and fauna, camp, hike, swim, stay in village homes, buy locally made handcrafts, and eat in the community restaurant. These initiatives have been set up by the village in collaboration with local, national, and overseas agencies, in ways which spread benefits as widely as possible. After the introduction of a new constitution in 2008, which recognizes the multi-ethnic character of Ecuador’s population, Agua Blanca and adjacent communities asked to be officially recognized as ‘Pueblo Manta’ — an identity derived from the area’s pre-Spanish archaeology. Agua Blanca’s experience shows that much can be achieved through confidence in cultural identity, and that locally managed community tourism brings tangible economic benefits to local people, while serving to protect vulnerable archaeological sites from destruction.     

Experimental Pesah or,How do you Eat a Lamb while Holding a Staff in your Hand?

The Passover festival has been the ritual expression of Jewish cultural identity ever since the Old Testament got the form it has today. This article looks at the ways cultural identity was expressed in antiquity, critiques the traditional prioritising of the story of exodus over its biblical ritual expression in understanding ancient Jewish identity and explores various Pesah sacrifice instructions in Exodus 12 as an implicit polemical ritual discourse engaged in constructing a ritual of cultural distinction. The article pays close attention to the tension between the invented and the real of the instructions, and attempts to identify the possible cultural other against whom some of the Exodus instructions were constructed.