The Meaning of 'Heritage': Mapping Discursive Perspectives with Q Methodology

Abstract

'Heritage' is not a fixed, unchanging 'thing', but is something that is
constructed, created, constituted and reflected by discourses. This
contingency of 'heritage' upon discourse means that policy is not simply
a neutral domain within which 'heritage' problems and solutions are
mapped. Rather, policy becomes a site for analysis or a means by which
to explore through discourse the social realities of heritage
management, particularly in terms of the power relations that monitor
and sustain social hierarchies and social change. This article maps a
range of heritage perspectives using Q methodology. Key here is the idea
that while expressions of heritage may be vocalised in similar ways,
the meanings underpinning those vocalisations may be directed by
different motives and underlying assumptions. Q methodology is thus used
here to offer a way by which to recognise not only the natural or
commonplace definitions of heritage privileged in national legislation,
but those alternative perceptions understood and adhered to by other,
and often subaltern, groups. As such, this article presents an overview
of the different ways in which 'heritage' is perceived, examining both
the nuances of the dominant perspective embedded in heritage policy, as
well as a range of alternative experiences and perspectives that exist
in tension with that dominant - and authorised - discourse.