Reading Discussion
Questions Note: these questions do not by any means exhaust the discussion potential of the readings. They are intended to orient you towards some of the issues, but I encourage you to identify other issues as well. The readings for today focus on the fact that culture and heritage do not speak for themselves: they have to be re-presented and represented through a process involving what Kirshenblatt-Gimbelett calls the "agency of display." This process increasingly takes place in both a touristic and global context, illustrated perhaps most clearly in the designation of of U.N. World Heritage Sites. 1. In Kirshenblatt-Gimbelett's Introduction, focus on what the two "hallmarks of display" and how they relate to the process she calls the "agency of display." Why is the agency of display inevitable and what forms does it take? Why are exhibits--regardless of their content-- also "exhibits of those who make them" and what does this mean? On p. 12, pay attention to the list of "questions raised throughout this volume" towards the bottom of the page. 2. In Chapter 1, "Objects of Ethnography," note the questions about "visual interest" at the end of the first paragraph. What does the process of creating visual interest involve? What are the two major ways this is done? 3. What is the museum effect? What are the various ways that culture is performed as display? 4. In Chapter 3, "Destination Museum," note the complex relation between museums, travel and tourism. What is the "New Museology" and how is it changing the agencies of display? 5. What is the "museological" problem of defining the uniqueness of the destination for countries like Australia and New Zealand? Is the problem limited to them? 6. What is the appeal of "real" lifespace, but from a touristic point of view, what are its problems? What have been the tourism industry's responses to this? 7. Come prepared to discuss and apply the seven propositions about "heritage" that Kirhenblatt-Gimblett lays out, beginning on page 149. What is the overall point about heritage that she is making? What does she mean on p. 171 when she says: "Increasingly we travel to actual destinations to experience virtual places?" 8. In Smith's chapter on "The Globalisation of Heritage," try to get a sense (building on Kirshenblatt-Gimblett) of why "heritage" tourism is so controversial. What are the issues in the debate? 9. An important development in the past several decades has been the globalization of heritage, most clearly actualized in UNESCO's World Heritage Convention and in the formal designation of World Heritage Sites. What does it mean to make "heritage" something global? What are the issues and potential conflicts? In addition to Smith's discussion, explore UNESCO's World Heritage website, including the list of sites designated so far. 10. Hitchcock's and King's introduction to a special journal issue on heritage and tourism in Southeast Asia provides a regional look at the global-local dynamics involved in the touristic presentation of both culture and nature as heritage. What is the meaning of their title, "Discourses with the Past?" What are the various ways these issues have played themselves out in different Southeast Asian contexts? Pay attention to the notion of "non-places" and their significance.
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