Knowledge and Identities in Films on Intangible Cultural Heritage

In the 21st century, UNESCO’s paradigm for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage is rapidly transforming cultural practices into intangible cultural heritage. The author has researched intangible heritage and films through the prism of knowledge and identity construction; the former, in particular, has rarely been examined in the field of heritage. In the book, she uses a case study of dry stone walling to show that official heritagisation foregrounds objectified cognitive knowledge, while paying less attention to embodied skills and tacit knowledge that are fundamental for the existence and vitality of intangible heritage. She critiques the top-down construction of knowledge in illustrative films, which is based on etic views of experts, while allowing heritage bearers only soft agency with statements that fit into the author’s concept. She calls for the de-hierarchisation of knowledge in all representations and greater epistemic justice in the context of UNESCO’s safeguarding paradigm.

This monograph was published by University of Ljubljana Press and Slovene Ethnographic Museum.