90102 - ANTROPOLOGIA DEL PATRIMONIO

Course contents

The concept of cultural heritage developed from the development of nation-states at the end of the 18th century. According to this “modern” notion, cultural heritage entails a tentacular network of social-political dynamics in which social identities are fabricated and reproduced. In such a way, cultural heritage consists of a precise memorialisation politics that emphasises specific values, practices and cultural artefacts as intimately interconnected and “naturally” parts of a community. An anthropology of cultural heritage must then explain how certain social groups develop cultural and identitarian practices for claiming their needs and political goals in the present.

An example of heritage practices is museums. Born to celebrate the scientific and technical progress of the nation-states, museums present cultural artefacts according to certain narratives to emphasise a particular historical narrative instead of other memories. It is not a coincidence that, in colonial times, the colonised were described as subaltern and scientifically “backward” than the colonisers, who were the owners and creators of the museum exhibitions.

With the beginning of postcolonialism, heritage practices have been deconstructed and criticised in their hegemonic principles, opening up a new space for those groups who have so far been depicted as subaltern. In parallel, supranational organisations like UNESCO, in virtue of a universalistic idea of humanity, execute heritage policies that conflict with subaltern groups.

This module analyses cultural heritage as an historically, geographically and politically situated ethnographic subject. The module, in particular, investigates two central themes within the anthropology of heritage: the concept of the invention of tradition (Hobsbawm and Ranger), on the one hand, and the idea of “cultural intimacy” (Herzfeld). In the first case, specific cultural patterns are anchored to the deep temporality of a social group. The second term identifies how a social group identify itself by looking at “its” cultural heritage.

Once the fundamental dynamics of heritage practices are explained, the module will focus on the shifts of academic and historical approaches within the last decades, with the so-called critical heritage studies. With this new branch of studies, cultural heritage is no longer an exclusive part of European nation-states but comprises extra-European philosophies and practices before colonialism. Finally, the lecturer will present the case of mainland China and Taiwan, where several forms of heritage practices differ from those developed in Europe and exported in the colonies.

Together with these extra-European case studies, the lecturer will offer a critical perspective on the European museum scene through which the hegemonic and colonial legacy of ethnographic collections is deconstructed. On the one hand, the module will present the case of the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, where colonial collections are reviewed by contemporary artists and scholars from “colonised” countries. On the other hand, the module will reflect on the destruction of the statues of historical characters involved in colonialism and the slave trade. In this way, the module will introduce the concepts of dissonant and difficult heritage. Lastly, the module will focus on marginal or informal museums born to represent underrepresented social strata. An example is offered by the Guatelli’s museum in Ozzano Taro (Parma), whose collection is mainly based on waste material and ephemeral artefacts.

The presentation of case studies, debates and themes will be completed by a review of the methodological instruments of museum anthropology and heritage studies for implementing students’ future research in the heritage sector.

Learning goals

At the end of the module, students will have a critical perspective through which analysing cultural heritage processes and will be able to dialogue with the anthropological debate on ethnographic museums, cultural heritage, identitarian processes, cultural memory and postcolonialism. In addition, the module will provide basic methodological tools for research and anthropological studies of museum collections and other heritage artefacts.

Requirements

Students must have a basic knowledge of cultural anthropology and good mastery of English.

Programme

  1st Week

-Historical birth of heritage and invention of tradition

-Concepts of cultural hegemony and cultural memory

-Concept of cultural intimacy: presentation and group discussion of Michael Herzfeld’s work

2nd Week

-The historical evolution of UNESCO and political-anthropological consequences

-Material and immaterial heritage: definitions, differences and connected policies

-Presentation and discussion of the L’UNESCO e il campanile

3rd Week

-Concepts of dissonant and difficult heritage: presentation of the existing academic debate

-Presentation of the case study of Documenta

-Presentation of an ethnographic research on the Vajont disaster

4th Week

-Museums: birth and dynamics

-Museums and colonialism

-Concept of object-lesson: presentation and discussion of Emma Martin’s study on the collector Charles Bell and other examples of studies on colonial collections

-Case study of the Italian colonial collections and missionary museums: presentation and group discussion

5th Week

-Museums and extra-European heritage practices: a summary

-The case of mainland China and Taiwan

-Informal and “subaltern” museums in Europe and Italy: presentations and group discussion

6th Week

-Museumanalyse: methods and analysis of museums and their heritage processes

-Historical introduction of the museum the class is going to visit

-Visit to an ethnographic museum in the region Emilia-Romagna (TBC)

Readings/Bibliography

For attending students

1. *a collection of articles and chapters that are used in class for discussion and presentations during the module. This collection is subdivided into 6 sections, each one corresponding to the material discussed in class each week. Each session will be available week by week in order to encourage students to read the material available and discuss it during lessons. The material will be uploaded on the module online working space and deposited in the department library*
2. One text of the two: a) Herzfeld, Michael (2003). Intimità culturale. Antropologia e nazionalismo. Napoli: L’Ancora del Mediterraneo; b) Palumbo, Berardino (2006). L’UNESCO e il campanile. Antropologia, politica e beni culturali. Milano: Meltemi
3. *the lecturer will suggest texts for the final written assignment*

For non-attending students

1. Harrison, Rodney (2020). Il patrimonio culturale. Un approccio critico. Ediz Mylab.
2. One text of the two: a) Herzfeld, Michael (2003). Intimità culturale. Antropologia e nazionalismo. Napoli: L’Ancora del Mediterraneo; b) Palumbo, Berardino (2006). L’UNESCO e il campanile. Antropologia, politica e beni culturali. Milano: Meltemi
3. One text among these titles:

Clemente, Pietro (1996). Graffiti di museografia antropologica italiana. Siena: Protagon Editori.

Clifford, James (2008). Strade. Viaggio e traduzione alla fine del secolo XX. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri.

Exell, Karen and Sarina Wakefield (2016). Museums in Arabia. Transnational Practices and Regional Processes. London: Routledge.

Grechi, Giulia (2021). Decolonizzare il museo. Mostrazioni, pratiche artistiche, sguardi incarnati. Milano: Mimesis.

Guermandi, Maria Pia (2021). Decolonizzare il patrimonio. L'Europa, l'Italia e un passato che non passa. Roma: Lit Edizioni.

Herzfeld, Michael (2016). Siege of the Spirits: Community and Polity in Bangkok. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Kreps, Christina Faye (2003). Liberating Culture: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Museums, Curation, and Heritage Preservation. London: Routledge.

Lusini, Valentina (2004). Gli oggetti etnografici tra arte e storia l'immaginario postcoloniale e il progetto del Musée du quai Branly a Parigi. Torino: L’Harmattan Italia.

MacDonald, Sharon (2009). Difficult Heritage: Negotiating the Nazi Past in Nuremberg and Beyond. Abingdom: Routledge.

Modern Italy, Vol. 24 Issue 2 (2019), Special Issue, The Difficult Heritage of Italian Fascism

Palumbo, Berardino (2009). Politiche dell’inquietudine: passioni, feste e poteri in Sicilia. Firenze: Le Lettere.

Tuuli Lähdesmäki, Luisa Passerini, Sigrid Kaosik.Krogerus, and Iris van Huis (Eds.) (2019). Dissonant Heritages and Memories in Contemporary Europe. Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict.

Zhu, Yujie and Christina Maags (Eds.) (2020). Heritage Politics in China. The Power of the Past. London: Routledge. 

 

Novels suggested:

De Waal, Edmund (2010). Un'eredità d'avorio e d'ambra. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri.

Wiener, Gabriela (2022). Sanguemisto. Roma: La Nuova Frontiera.

 

*In case students do not find the titles in the departmental library, they can ask the lecturer to share her copy. There is also available interlibrary loans for those texts that are present at the Bologna Campus: https://www.unibo.it/it/campus-ravenna/biblioteca/prestito-interbibliotecario-e-fornitura-articoli *

**The collection of articles and chapters for the first week of the module (attending students) will be available in the department’s library by the 3rd of November**

***For international students, the lecturer will accept the English version of the titles for both the examinations (attending and non-attending students)

Teaching methods

Lessons will be both frontal and seminars. Each topic will be introduced by the lecturer with some case studies and audio-visual material. Once a week, attending students will prepare a specific part of the collection of articles and chapters provided at the beginning of the module and discuss in the class with the others and the lecturer. According to the pandemic situation, the last week will be devoted to the visit to one ethnographic museum in the region Emilia-Romagna. The museum visit will include interviews and debates with some museum curators and a workshop on museum analysis.

Assessment methods

Attending students will have to present some texts to the class, both individually and in groups, from the fourth week onwards. At the end of the module, they will be required to write a small assignment of no longer than ten pages on the topic chosen that will reflect on the debates discussed in class. The lecturer will be available to negotiate with students on the subject of the assignments and the literature to use it. It is suggested to start with a theoretical part, where reflecting on the theoretical themes developed in the bibliography, for then introducing and discussing a concrete example, ethnographic o, more broadly, in the heritage field.

Non-attending students will have to take an oral examination on the module’s topics, and an ethnographic case described by the authors suggested in the bibliography.

The final evaluation will follow the following criteria:

-insufficient: poor knowledge of basic concepts and incorrect analysis of sources and themes;

-sufficient: basic knowledge (18-22 score); correct interpretation of themes and sources but not independent and superficial;

-good (23-27): intermediate knowledge and correct interpretation of themes and sources, but not always precise and independent;

-excellent (28-30 with merit): advanced knowledge; independent and precise interpretation of sources and themes. Excellent oral or written interpretation.

Teaching tools

Pictures from the lecturer’s research; audiovisual material

Office hours

See the website of Valentina Gamberi