‘Authenticity’ for the visited or for the visitors? ‘collective memory’, ‘collective imagination’ and a view from the future

Benson, Ciaran (2018) ‘Authenticity’ for the visited or for the visitors? ‘collective memory’, ‘collective imagination’ and a view from the future. ICOMOS University Forum . pp. 1-11. ISSN 2616-6968 [Article]

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Abstract (in English)

From the viewpoint of a psychology that is interested in how cultures shape and colour conscious states, selves, identities, emotions, memories, allegiances and so on, this paper reflects on the ways in which ideas from psychology characterise the thinking of policymakers in the area of heritage conservation and restoration. Specifically, it focuses on ideas of ‘memory’ and ‘authenticity’. It asks whether the concept of ‘authenticity’ is culturally and historically relative, and how it works towards an ideal of global unity, such as is espoused by the United Nations. It reviews how ‘personal memory’ relates to the notion of ‘collective memory’, and suggests that this latter idea is metaphorical in nature. It argues that a productive emphasis for those interested in monuments and sites might now be on the idea of ‘collective imagination’ rather than just on that of ‘collective memory’. This in turn would support the need to develop a greater understanding of the visitors to heritage sites, as well as on developing an understanding of what it is they are visiting. It concludes by speculating on the profound changes underway with world population growth, urbanisation, and the pervasive implications of the development of digital and virtual realities. It ends with the question of whether it matters that people may increasingly be unable to distinguish ‘the ersatz’ from ‘the real’, ‘the authentic’ from ‘the imaginatively (re)constructed’?

Item Type:	Article
Authors:	Authors Email Benson, Ciaran UNSPECIFIED
Languages:	English
Keywords:	reconstruction; theory of conservation; theory of restoration; presentation; Cultural significance; Social aspects; Values; personal memory; collective memory; collective imagination; authenticity; changing realities; psychology
Subjects:	A. THEORETICAL AND GENERAL ASPECTS > 09. Philosophy of conservation A. THEORETICAL AND GENERAL ASPECTS > 12. Theory of conservation A. THEORETICAL AND GENERAL ASPECTS > 12bis. Theory of restoration E. CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION > 02. Theory and doctrinal texts E. CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION > 09. Social and economic aspects of conservation
National Committee:	ICOMOS International
ISSN:	2616-6968
Depositing User:	ICOMOS DocCentre
Date Deposited:	12 Mar 2018 15:48
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2024 12:09
References:	Assmann, J. 1995, ‘Collective memory and cultural identity’, New German Critique, vol. 65, pp 125-134. Bartlett, F.C. 1932/1977, Remembering: a study in experimental and social psychology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Beard, M. 2017, ‘Reading the ruins of Rome’, The New York Review of Books, LXIV, no. 12, July 13-Aug 16, p.18. Benson, C. 2001, The cultural psychology of self: place, morality and art in human worlds, Routledge London/New York, Chapter 13. Benson, C. 2004, ‘In the time of shaking: human rights, art and the anchorage of sharing’, in C. Benson (ed.) In the time of shaking: Irish artists for Amnesty International, Art for Amnesty, Dublin, pp. 11-24. Benson, C. 2013, ‘New kinds of subjective uncertainty? Technologies of art, ‘self” and confusions of memory in the twenty-first century’, in RW Tafarodi (ed.) Subjectivity in the twenty-first century: cultural, philosophical and political perspectives, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp.140- 166. Boyer, P. & Wertsch, J.V. (eds) 2009, Memory in mind and culture, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Dennett, D. 2017, From bacteria to Bach and back: the evolution of minds, Allen Lane, London. Dittrich, L. 2016, Patient H.M.: a story of memory, madness, and family secrets, Random House, New York. Donald, M. 2002, A mind so rare: the evolution of human consciousness, W.W. Norton & Co, NY. Feinberg, T.E. and Mallatt, J.M. 2016, The ancient origins of consciousness: how the brain created experience, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Gauthier, M. 1991, ‘Traiter la Ruine, ou le Visiteur?’, Faut-il Restaurer les Ruines?, Actes des Colloques de la Direction du Patrimoine, Entretiens du Patrimoine, Picard, pp. 72-73. Harari, Y.N. 2015, Sapiens: a brief history of mankind, Harvill Secker, London. Harari, Y.N. 2016, Homo deus: a brief history of tomorrow, Vintage Books, London. ICOMOS 2016, Post-Trauma Reconstruction, Paris, vol. 1, 4 March. Johnson, R. 2017, ‘The Mystery of S., the Man with an Impossible Memory’, The New Yorker, August 12. Kahneman, D. 2012, Thinking fast and slow. Allen Lane, London. Kono, T. 2014, ‘Authenticity: principles and motions’, Change Over Time: The International Journal of Conservation and the Built Environment, Fall, The University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 436-459. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. 1980/2003, Metaphors we live by, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Loftus, E .1997, ‘Memories for a past that never was’, Current Directions in Psychological Science. Special Issue: Memory as aTheater of the Past: The Psychology of False Memories, vol 6, nom3, pp. 60-65. NARA document on authenticity 1994, viewed 21 November 2017, <https://www.icomos.org/charters/nara-e.pdf> Schuessler J. 2017, ‘History and memory are not set in stone, The New York Times, 16 August, p. A12. Stanley-Price, N. 2009, ‘The reconstruction of ruins: principles and practice’ in A Richmond & A Bracker, (eds), Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas and Uncomfortable Truths, Elsevier, Amsterdam. Stovel, H. 2008, ‘Origins and Influence of the Nara Document on Authenticity’, APT Bulletin, Vol 39, Nos 2/3, pp. 9-17. ‘Supersized Cities, China’s 13 megalopolises’, A Report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, 2012. United Nations 2014, viewed 21 November 2017, <https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFindings.pdf> Woodworth, P. 2013, Our once and future planet: restoring the world in the climate change century, The university of Chicago Press, Chicago.
URI:	https://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/1858

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