The construction of heritage: The domestic context and its implications

Abstract

A fundamental question in heritage studies is how heritage is constructed, how selection processes operate to transform some places, objects and practices into heritage and not some others. A significant site for heritage construction is the family and its relation to its material culture. The present Survey analyses how individuals within families relate to favoured objects and shows that the creation of material identity is crucial to a family's sense of wellbeing. However a gender difference emerges; for men the passage of time produces significant objects which are valued accordingly, but for women, objects are the passage of time. This has a significant impact on what eventually emerges as family heritage, and consequently upon how public heritage is created.