Iconoclash in the age of heritage [extracts]

This chapter defines an iconoclash as what happens when there is uncertainty about the exact role of the hand at work in the production of a mediator. It explains the role of heritage in the realm of cultural production and the artistic imaginary. The word heritage is intimately tied to the history of iconoclasm. Heritage is defined in relation to history and memory, for which it acts as a substitute. During what has become known as the period of modernism, the specific time experience heritage represents became a prominent theme of public discourse leading not only to a surge of monuments but also to a series of texts commenting on this development. The history of heritage as well as Francois Hartog's analysis of it is a European one. This applies also to the specific practices aiming to secure the "duty of memory." For instance, in Western society it is a matter of piety to preserve images of the dead.