Multiple nostalgias

The fabric of heritage inLuangPrabang (LaoPDR)

Bibliographic Data

ID2268110
AuthorsDavid C Berliner (0000-0003-3930-7280, Université Libre de Bruxelles, corresponding author), David Berliner (0000-0002-3148-9422, Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Year2012
Volume18
Issue4
Pages769-786
Publication date2012-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-0987 • E-ISSN: 1467-9655
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9655.2012.01791.x
OpenAlexW1512910462
LanguageEN
Citations received72
References cited48

This article explores the workings of nostalgia as a major driving force in heritage-making. Based on my fieldwork inLuangPrabang, an ancient royal town of northernLaos which became aUNESCO ListedWorldHeritageSite in 1995, I propose that it is necessary to disentangle the multiple nostalgic attachments which lie behind the often-mentioned label 'nostalgia' from those which are not necessarily nostalgic. I explore the various engagements of diverse actors with nostalgia, and how these engagements, rooted in personal experiences, intersect with specific postures towards time, history, heritage, development, and culture. Secondly, my aim is to highlight the performative aspects of nostalgia in the fabric of heritage. I argue that, by attempting to preserve spaces, practices, and objects,UNESCOexperts and national civil servants effectively transform them. Far from stopping transmission and culture mechanisms, patrimonial recognition creates aesthetic forms, historical narratives, politics of transmission, and, more generally, social configurations. I delve into the processes through whichLuangPrabang has been turned into a heritage scene and a tourist attraction, and I contend that such transformation is rendered possible by the concatenation ofUNESCOprojects, cosmopolitan gentrification, tourism development, and state programmes

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Cultural heritage · Cultural heritage management · Heritage tourism · Literature · Narrative · Performative utterance · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Tourism · Tourist attraction · Anthropology · Cambodian History and Society · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · History · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub