Везде

RAS History & PhilologyЭтнографическое обозрение Ethno review

  • ISSN (Print) 0869-5415
  • ISSN (Online) 3034-6274

Difficult Heritage: A Moral Reboot

You can
PII
S3034627425060064-1
DOI
10.7868/S3034627425060064
Publication type
Article
Status
Published
Authors
Ekaterina Melnikova
  • Affiliation: European University at St. Petersburg
Volume/ Edition
Volume / Issue number 6
Pages
81-96
Abstract
The article examines the complex issues within the field of “difficult heritage,” tracing its development in both practical application and academic analysis. It argues that current research approaches are often driven by political and ideological agendas, hindering a more nuanced understanding of how societies grapple with the past. While diverse interpretive models have emerged, the field remains largely rooted in moral judgments and ethical imperatives. I propose critical questions to stimulate discussion and move beyond the confines of existing “difficult heritage studies”, which are often burdened by moralistic perspectives. By prompting a shift in focus, this work aims to encourage a more subtle analysis of the multifaceted ways we engage with difficult past.
Keywords
наследие травма коллективная память мораль трудное прошлое
Date of publication
02.02.2026
Year of publication
2026
Number of purchasers
0
Views
6

References

  1. 1. ICOMOS 2018 – ICOMOS Discussion Paper: Evaluations of World Heritage Nominations Related to Sites Associated with Memories of Recent Conflicts. Discussion Paper. ICOMOS International. Charenton-le-Pont (France), 2018.
  2. 2. ICOMOS 2020 – ICOMOS Second Discussion Paper: Sites Associated with Memories of Recent Conflicts and the World Heritage Convention: Reflection on Whether and How These Might Relate to the Purpose and Scope of the World Heritage Convention and Its Operational Guidelines. Discussion Paper. ICOMOS. Charenton-le-Pont (France), 2020.
  3. 3. Report 1979 – Report of the Rapporteur on the Third Session of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee // UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage World Heritage Committee. Third Session. Cairo and Luxor, 22–26 October 1979. CC-79/CONF.003/12 Rev. 22 October 1979. https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/729
  4. 4. Sites Associated 2020 – Sites Associated with Memories of Recent Conflicts and the World Heritage Convention. Reflection on Whether and How These Might Relate to the Purpose and Scope of the World Heritage Convention and Its Operational Guidelines // ICOMOS Second Discussion Paper. ICOMOS International Secretariat. February 2020. https://www.icomos.org/images/ICOMOS_Second_discussion_paper_Sites_associated_with_memories_of_recent_conflicts.pdf
  5. 5. Ассман А. Новое недовольство мемориальной культурой. М.: НЛО, 2016.
  6. 6. Курилла И. Битва за прошлое: как политика меняет историю. М: Альпина Паблишер, 2022.
  7. 7. Миллер А.И. Устои “глобальной” мемориальной культуры под вопросом // Россия в глобальной политике. 2024. Т. 22. № 3. С. 68–81.
  8. 8. Самовер Н.В. “Трудное” наследие как Всемирное: Россия в контексте международного опыта // Журнал института наследия. 2018. № 3 (14). С. 1–14.
  9. 9. Серикова А.Ю. Трудное наследие в работах зарубежных исследователей: сущность и трактовки // Вестник СПбГИК. 2022. № 3 (52). С. 108–114.
  10. 10. Фассен Д., Рехтман Р. Моральная экономика травмы // Неприкосновенный запас. 2019. № 127 (5). С. 33–46.
  11. 11. Хлевнюк Д. Почувствовать права человека: аффект в музеях памяти // Политика аффекта: музей как пространство публичной истории / Под ред. А. Завадского, В. Склез, К. Сувериной. М: НЛО, 2019. С. 106–122.
  12. 12. Alpers S. The Museum as a Way of Seeing // Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display / Eds. I. Karp; S.D. Lavine. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. P. 25–32.
  13. 13. Ashworth G.J. Ethnic Conflict: Is Heritage Tourism Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem? // Transformational Tourism: Host Perspectives / Ed. Y. Reisinger. Boston: CAB International, 2014. P. 167–180.
  14. 14. Ashworth G.J., Tunbridge J.E. The Tourist-Historic City. L.: Belhaven, 1990.
  15. 15. Bartov O. Weaponizing Language: Misuses of Holocaust Memory and the Never Again Syndrome // Council for Global Cooperation. 2024. https://cgcinternational.co.in/weaponizing-language-misuses-of-holocaust-memory-a nd-the-never-again-syndrome
  16. 16. Beazley O., Cameron C. Study on Sites Associated with Recent Conflicts and Other Negative and Divisive Memories // UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage World Heritage Committee. Extended Forty-Fourth Session. Fuzhou (China). 2021. https://whc.unesco.org/archive/2021/whc21-44com-inf8.2-en.pdf
  17. 17. Berger S., Wulf K. (eds.) Agonistic Memory and the Legacy of 20th Century Wars in Europe. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021.
  18. 18. Bull, A.C., Hansen, H.L. On Agonistic Memory // Memory Studies. 2016. Vol. 9 (4). P. 390–404.
  19. 19. David L. The Past Can’t Heal Us: The Dangers of Mandating Memory in the Name of Human Rights. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press, 2020.
  20. 20. Fassin D., Rechtman R. The Empire of Trauma: An Inquiry into the Condition of Victimhood. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.
  21. 21. Gabowitsch M. Replicating Atonement: Foreign Models in the Commemoration of Atrocities. L.: Palgrave, 2017.
  22. 22. Gabowitsch M., Homanyuk M. Monuments and Territory: War Memorials in Russian-Occupied Ukraine. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2024.
  23. 23. Graham B., Ashworth G.J., Tunbridge J.E. (eds.) A Geography of Heritage: Power, Culture and Economy. L.: Routledge, 2000.
  24. 24. Harrison R. What is Heritage? // Understanding the Politics of Heritage / Ed. R. Harrison. Manchester: Manchester University Press; Open University, 2010. P. 5–42.
  25. 25. Hewison R. The Heritage Industry: Britain in a Climate of Decline. L.: Routledge, 1987.
  26. 26. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett B. Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
  27. 27. Kisić V. Governing Heritage Dissonance: Promises and Realities of Selected Cultural Policies. Amsterdam: European Cultural Foundation, 2017.
  28. 28. Lähdesmäki T., Passerini L., Kaasik-Krogerus S., van Huis I. (eds.) Dissonant Heritages and Memories in Contemporary Europe. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.
  29. 29. Lambek M. The Past Imperfect: Remembering as Moral Practice // Tense Past: Cultural Essays in Trauma and Memory / Eds. P. Antze, M. Lambek. L.: Routledge, 1996. P. 235–254.
  30. 30. Levy D., Sznaider N. Memory Unbound: The Holocaust and the Formation of Cosmopolitan Memory // European Journal of Social Theory. 2002. No. 5 (1). P. 87–106.
  31. 31. Levy D., Sznaider N. The Holocaust and Memory in the Global Age. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006.
  32. 32. Logan W., Reeves K. (eds.) Places of Pain and Shame: Dealing with “Difficult Heritage”. N.Y.: Routledge, 2009.
  33. 33. Macdonald S. Undesirable Heritage: Fascist Material Culture and Historical Consciousness in Nuremberg // International Journal of Heritage Studies. 2006. Vol. 12 (1). P. 9–28.
  34. 34. Macdonald S. Difficult Heritage: Negotiating the Nazi Past in Nuremberg and Beyond. N.Y.: Routledge, 2009.
  35. 35. Macdonald S. Is “Difficult Heritage” Still ‘Difficult’? Why Public Acknowledgment of Past Perpetration May No Longer Be So Unsettling to Collective Identities // Museum International. 2015. Vol. 67 (1–4). P. 6–22.
  36. 36. Niquet V. Issues of Memory and History: UNESCO and the Politicization of World Heritage Site Nominations // Japan Review. 2023. Vol. 6. No. 2. P. 39–46.
  37. 37. Olick J.K. The Politics of Regret: On Collective Memory and Historical Responsibility. N.Y.: Routledge, 2007.
  38. 38. Samuels J. Difficult Heritage Coming “to Terms” with Sicily’s Fascist Past // Heritage Keywords: Rhetoric and Redescription in Cultural Heritage / Eds. K.L. Samuels, T. Rico. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2015. P. 111–128.
  39. 39. Tunbridge J. Three Decades in Heritage Tourism: A Tribute to Gregory Ashworth // Anatolia. An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research. 2018. Vol. 29 (4). P. 1–6.
  40. 40. Tunbridge J.E., Ashworth G.J. Dissonant Heritage: The Management of the Past as a Resource in Conflict. Chichester: Wiley, 1996.
  41. 41. Tunbridge J.E., Ashworth G.J. Is All Tourism Dark? // Dark Tourism: Practice and Interpretation / Eds. G. Hooper, J.J. Lennon. L.: Routledge, 2017. P. 12–25.
QR
Translate

Indexing

Scopus

Scopus

Scopus

Crossref

Scopus

Higher Attestation Commission

At the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Scopus

Scientific Electronic Library