This article was downloaded by: [Sheffield Hallam University], [Rui Su] On: 07 January 2013, At: 06:58 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Journal of Heritage Tourism Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjht20
Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage Rui Su
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Sheffield Hallam University E-mail: Version of record first published: 05 Dec 2012.
To cite this article: Rui Su (2012): Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, Journal of Heritage Tourism, DOI:10.1080/1743873X.2012.746026 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1743873X.2012.746026
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Journal of Heritage Tourism 2012, 1–2, iFirst article
BOOK REVIEW
Downloaded by [Sheffield Hallam University], [Rui Su] at 06:58 07 January 2013
Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, edited by Michelle L. Stefano, Peter Davis and Gerard Corsane, Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2012, ix + 274 pp., £60.00 (hbk), ISBN 9781843837107 This book is intended for readers interested in the preservation and communication of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), particularly university students, museums and library managers, and tourism industry stakeholders. Anyone who wants to get a theoretical understanding or to learn about practical experiences with ICH would be recommended to read this book. Its main purpose is to fill the ‘significant gap in the literature in terms of actual efforts, problems and plans owing to activities still being at an early stage’ (p. 2). Many new ideas about safeguarding ICH are introduced in the three sections of the book, entitled ‘Negotiating and valuing the intangible’, ‘Applying the intangible cultural heritage concept’, and ‘On the ground: Safeguarding the intangible’, respectively. In particular, two main concepts – anthropological approaches of museums and local community involvement – provide interesting insights and new justifications for safeguarding ICH. The book has many strengths, the first being its critical reflection on the international scope of ICH, as well as the new justifications it presents for exploring and developing ICH within its social, economic, political, cultural and environmental contexts. Rich and varied research cases are included from Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North and South America, and the Middle East. These cases clearly illustrate ICH theories and practices. For instance, different relationships between communities, local and national authorities and heritage professionals, and how these are influenced by political factors, are illustrated through cases from France, Australia, Netherlands and Wales. The cases critically analyse the various external factors that influence the safeguarding of ICH and supply some good guidance on safeguarding ICH in practice. The second strength of the book is its critical analysis of cultural and anthropological studies by making associations with tourism research. The book examines cultural studies relating to meanings and values in order to identify the nature and characteristics of ICH. Some ideas, such as modern technologies of heritage presentation, the role of museums, and anthropological approaches to cultural heritage, are explored through inter-disciplinary study involving cultural and tourism studies. One especially interesting idea is in the chapter ‘Conventional approaches to cultural heritage in Jordan’, which illustrates the concept of the ‘circuit of culture’ and evaluates the meaning-making process for local community culture and the tourism industry. It suggests that meaning is constructed by the interactions between individuals and their contexts, and that taking a socio-cultural perspective will yield an improved understanding of the interactions between culture and tourism. The critical arguments and clear structure of this research not only suggest new means of safeguarding ICH, but also make a useful contribution to the study of heritage tourism. This book is well informed by various resources and sources of information, but it also has a few weaknesses. First, the lack of an overall conclusion may cause readers to lose the ISSN 1743-873X print/ISSN 1747-6631 online http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1743873X.2012.746026 http://www.tandfonline.com
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Book review
whole picture of safeguarding ICH. Readers may be persuaded that safeguarding ICH is important, but left wondering ‘so what?’ It would have been much better to have a conclusion chapter and review the general arguments about ICH at the end of the book. The second problem relates to the descriptive content, which does not discuss the methodological issues. Most chapters are quite good at explaining the details of the cases, but they do not clarify the research paradigms used in their field research. A critical discussion of research methods could strengthen the value of this book to the field of ICH. The third problem relates to the format of the book in terms of its binding, font size and typographical errors. This book is available in hardback but the pages are not glued in very well. The font size is rather small and the sentence spaces are a little narrow, so that the reader has to really concentrate on each line. There are also a few annoying typographical errors. The greatest value of this book is in its international scope and in its discussion of the practical efforts being made to safeguard ICH. This is a useful research book, with comprehensive coverage of the theoretical and practical debates. Its discussion of anthropology, museums and local perspectives in preserving ICH means that this book is good for students on museum, heritage, cultural and tourism studies courses at the postgraduate or higher levels. In particular, the book will be of interest to advanced students, teaching staff and researchers interested in ICH. This book will also be good for museum managers and government bodies who want to get some practical ideas for planning, preserving and promoting ICH. Rui Su Sheffield Hallam University Email:
[email protected] # 2012, Rui Su
