In this essay I will look at key texts relating to heritage and how it is defined and debated by different scholars. I will investigate how they use nature as a base for constructing our national and cultural heritage identity using Scandinavia as an example. These key texts include the essay Regional cultural heritage versus national heritage in Scania's disputed national landscape essay by Tomas Germundsson and the Nature as heritage: the Swedish case, by Bosse Sundin. Their key points on how we use nature as the foundation for our cultural and national heritage identity will be evaluated with the theoretical concept of ‘heritage’ in general debated in European Heritage Planning and Management by Gregory Ashworth and Peter Howard as well
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But where does our heritage stem from? As Bosse Sundin points out in his essay Nature as Heritage: The Swedish Case (2005), the interest in nature and natural landmarks was inspired by a newly awoken patriotism as we moved away from our old patriotic ways when the wars with Norway and Denmark ended. This revival in our natural heritage took off in the late 19th century and in 1909 the Swedish Society for the Protection of Nature was founded (Sundin, 2005). They concluded that certain natural landmarks and objects were noticed and needed to be preserved because of the legends, historical memories, or folk traditions associated with them. This also sparked an interest in the intangible cultural heritage associated with these places through folklore and fairy tales (Sundin, 2005). Folklore plays a big part in the Swedish national identity as these are the stories about our people’s origins and many of these stories are inspired, or based of the cultural landscape e.g. trees, rocks, rivers. Gregory Hansen argues that this wide construction of heritage is related to folklore and the connection between the culture of the peasant communities and nature creates the basis for our identity. There is now also a strong engagement in the heritage sector these days to the importance of folklore and folklife as parts of our intangible cultural heritage and that folklore …show more content…
As previously mentioned, our cultural heritage is used as a commodity rather than as a tool to remember our past. Our relationship with nature remains unclear for the future with the ever-growing concern regarding climate change and the wear and tear recreation activities have on our landscape. Thymio Papayannis and Peter Howard states in Editorial: Nature as Heritage (2007) that if we consider nature as part of our heritage, this will contribute to a better realisation of its value for our future generations and that this is the most valuable inheritance that we can leave behind for generations to come. Kenneth Olwig agrees that with this ‘interest in nature and natural landmarks’ that was inspired by a newly awoken patriotism, nature became the defining factor of the northern heritage. He also states that if Rome had its cultural monuments carved in marble, Scandinavia had its natural monuments in the form of giant stones and unusual trees. This view on the natural heritage would then set the agenda for which we built our cultural heritage on (Olwig,
But where does our heritage stem from? As Bosse Sundin points out in his essay Nature as Heritage: The Swedish Case (2005), the interest in nature and natural landmarks was inspired by a newly awoken patriotism as we moved away from our old patriotic ways when the wars with Norway and Denmark ended. This revival in our natural heritage took off in the late 19th century and in 1909 the Swedish Society for the Protection of Nature was founded (Sundin, 2005). They concluded that certain natural landmarks and objects were noticed and needed to be preserved because of the legends, historical memories, or folk traditions associated with them. This also sparked an interest in the intangible cultural heritage associated with these places through folklore and fairy tales (Sundin, 2005). Folklore plays a big part in the Swedish national identity as these are the stories about our people’s origins and many of these stories are inspired, or based of the cultural landscape e.g. trees, rocks, rivers. Gregory Hansen argues that this wide construction of heritage is related to folklore and the connection between the culture of the peasant communities and nature creates the basis for our identity. There is now also a strong engagement in the heritage sector these days to the importance of folklore and folklife as parts of our intangible cultural heritage and that folklore …show more content…
As previously mentioned, our cultural heritage is used as a commodity rather than as a tool to remember our past. Our relationship with nature remains unclear for the future with the ever-growing concern regarding climate change and the wear and tear recreation activities have on our landscape. Thymio Papayannis and Peter Howard states in Editorial: Nature as Heritage (2007) that if we consider nature as part of our heritage, this will contribute to a better realisation of its value for our future generations and that this is the most valuable inheritance that we can leave behind for generations to come. Kenneth Olwig agrees that with this ‘interest in nature and natural landmarks’ that was inspired by a newly awoken patriotism, nature became the defining factor of the northern heritage. He also states that if Rome had its cultural monuments carved in marble, Scandinavia had its natural monuments in the form of giant stones and unusual trees. This view on the natural heritage would then set the agenda for which we built our cultural heritage on (Olwig,