ABSTRACT
The question of ‘heritage’, however, merits further discussion. It is a complex term, associated with inheritance and the idea of property (lands, sites, landscapes, buildings, artefacts, ideas, customs) being passed on from one generation to the next. As such, heritage essentially comprises the valued legacy of previous generations; items from the past that embody tradition and which, by current evaluation, are considered worth retaining for the benefit of present and future generations. Some also argue that, as the past-in-the-present, they are frequently important sources of national, local, even individual identity (e.g. Hewison, 1987, 15-17). ‘Ownership’ of that property is often contested, for inheritance is sometimes associated with disinheritance and possession with dispossession. Just as potential inheritors can contest the disposition of the deceased’s property under the terms of a will, so can groups in society when confronted with dispossession from lands, sites, buildings and memorials to which they feel they have a legal, moral or spiritual claim. In addition, what constitutes ‘heritage’ is a selective and changing notion. Those who have power repeatedly make choices over how to value the past and what to do about it. The next exercise helps to elaborate this point.
