From Antiquities to Heritage: Transformations of Cultural Memory

188 Pages·2014·1.311 MB·English

by  Anne Eriksen

From Antiquities to Heritage
Time and the World: Interdisciplinary Studies in Cultural Transformations
Series editor: Helge Jordheim, University of Oslo, Norway
Published in association with the interdisciplinary research program Cultural
Transformations in the Age of Globalization (KULTRANS) at the University of
Oslo.
Time is moving faster; the world is getting smaller. Behind these popular slogans
are actual cultural processes, on global and local scales, that require investigation.
Time and the World draws on research in a wide range of fi elds, such as cultural
history, anthropology, sociology, literary studies, sociolinguistics and law and sets
out to discuss diff erent cultures as sites of transformation in a global context. Th e
series off ers interdisciplinary analyses of cultural aspects of globalization in vari-
ous historical and geographical contexts, across time and space.
Editorial board: Andrew Barry, University of Oxford; Richard Bauman, Indiana
University; Costas Douzinas, Birkbeck, University of London; Th omas Hylland
Eriksen, University of Oslo; Lynn Hunt, University of California Los Angeles;
Fazal Rizvi, University of Melbourne; Hartmut Rosa, Jena University; Inger Jo-
hanne Sand, University of Oslo; Stefan Willer, Center for Literary and Cultural
Research Berlin; Cliff ord Siskin, New York University
Volume 1
From Antiquities to Heritage: Transformations of Cultural Memory
Anne Eriksen
Forthcoming series titles:
Writing Democracy: Th e Norwegian Constitution 1814–2014
Edited by Karen Gammelgaard and Eirik Holmøyvik
Conceptualizing the World
Edited by Helge Jordheim and Erling Sandmo
Understanding Transformations in the Context of Globalization
Edited by Vidar Grøtta, Rana Issa, Helge Jordheim and Audun Solli
From Antiquities to Heritage
Transformations of Cultural Memory
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Anne Eriksen
berghahn
N E W Y O R K (cid:127) O X F O R D
www.berghahnbooks.com
Published in 2014 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2014 Anne Eriksen
Th e author received support for this project from Th e Research Council of Norway.
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eriksen, Anne.
From antiquities to heritage : transformations of cultural memory / Anne Eriksen.
pages cm. — (Time and the world : interdisciplinary studies in cultural
transformations ; Volume 1)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-78238-298-0 (hardback : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-1-78238-299-7 (ebook)
1. Cultural property—Protection—Philosophy. 2. Historic preservation—Philosophy.
3. Antiquities—Collection and preservation—Philosophy. 4. Cultural property—
Protection—Norway. 5. Historic preservation—Norway. 6. Antiquities—Norway—
Collection and preservation. I. Title.
CC135.E834 2014
363.6'9—dc23
2013029908
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed on acid-free paper
ISBN: 978-1-78238-298-0 hardback
ISBN: 978-1-78238-299-7 ebook
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
Research Questions and Perspectives 2
Between Heritage Studies and Antiquarianism 7
Th e Scope and Content of the Book 10
Chapter 1. Heritage and Cultural Memory 14
Regimes of Historicity 20
Th e Cult of Monuments 23
Chapter 2. In Search of Ancient Heroes 29
Topographies and the Space of Experience 31
What’s in a Name? 33
Th e Implications of Space 37
Hallingdal and Th race 39
A Familiar Realm 44
Chapter 3. Antiquarianism and Epistemic Virtue 46
Facts from Stones 47
From Mortar to Grammar 52
Epistemic Virtues 55
Schøning, the Historian 57
Chapter 4. Ruins and Time 64
Rudera: Decay, Vestiges and Remains 66
Ruin Romanticism 68
Sensibility and National Glory 72
Chapter 5. Mediaeval Monuments 81
Th e Discovery of the Stave Churches 83
Material Evidence – a New Approach 86
vi • Contents
J.S. Dahl and the Society for the Preservation of
Norwegian Ancient Monuments 90
History and the Nation 93
A Change of Regimes? 97
Chapter 6. Museums to Preserve Our Past 99
Systems, Specimens and Antiquities 100
National Awakening 102
Between Temporality and Topography 105
Confl icts and Invisibilities 110
Museums and History 113
Chapter 7. Monuments and Memorials 116
From Royal Glory to Civic Virtue 117
Standing Stones and Universal Values 119
All of Us – Resistance as a Collective Project 124
Time Witnesses 125
At the Museum 127
Chapter 8. Cultural Property, Cultural Heritage 132
Bring Him Home! 134
From Property to Heritage 136
Unique, but Not Particular 143
Chapter 9. Heritage and Presentism 149
Cultural Heritage in the Age of Digitalization –
Heritage Year 2009 152
Th e Heritage of Everyday Life 155
Doing Heritage 157
From Change to Choice – By Way of a Conclusion 160
References 166
Index 174
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Acknowledgements
T
his book is the end product of research interests that have developed over two
decades. My initial fascination – during the 1990s – with the role of collective
memory in processes of nation building has deepened theoretically and widened
empirically over the years. On the one hand, my original interest in nineteenth-
century use of historical monuments, popular traditions and oral literature in
the construction of national cultures has gradually expanded into investigations
of contemporary heritage work as well as of early modern antiquarianism. On
the other hand, this growing empirical scope made me see that the ‘use of the
past in the present’ not merely varies according to historical period or political
contexts, but that even the idea of history itself and the experience of temporality
are historically conditioned factors. Th e idea behind this book is that the chang-
ing ways of speaking about and assigning value to material remains from the
past can give important clues to a history of diff erent historical regimes.
Many people have contributed to the development of this project. Th e idea
for the book took shape within the frames of the interdisciplinary research
program Cultural Transformations in the Age of Globalization (Kultrans) at
the University of Oslo, and I would like to thank its academic director, Profes-
sor Helge Jordheim, for encouragement and inspiration. I would also like to
thank Professors Richard Bauman and Lynn Hunt for their insightful com-
ments and inspiring suggestions during the initial phase of my work with the
manuscript. My work has also benefi tted from the grant given me by the Nor-
wegian Research Council.
A number of my colleagues have lived with this book project over the years
and have been willing to listen to me and discuss it with me when I felt the
need. I would particularly like to thank my colleagues Brita Brenna, Eivind
Engebretsen, Jon Viðar Sigurðsson, Ellen Kreft ing, Kyrre Kverndokk and
Anne Birgitte Rønning for fruitful discussions, insightful comments, valuable
knowledge – and great patience. Finally, I would like to thank John C. An-
thony for his assistance with the language and Tomas Åndheim for his meticu-
lous work with the manuscript in its fi nal stages.
Anne Eriksen
Oslo, May 2013

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Introduction
I
n 1742, Vicar N.J. Bjerregaard started digging into a barrow in his parish of
Lardal in Vestfold, in southeastern Norway, hoping to fi nd ‘relics from the
heathen past’. But despite the best eff orts of the peasants he had hired for the
work, the vicar was disappointed. Th e mound contained nothing but some
fragile ceramic pots, a piece of rope with a brass handle and a bit of woollen
cloth. So much for the glorious past of the noble forefathers (43 queries from
the Government Offi ce 1743, ms 181, Lardal, query no 41). Knowing their life
and deeds well from the works of Snorre Sturlason and other saga writers, the
vicar had entertained quite other expectations for the barrow’s contents.
In 2009, the Norwegian Year of Cultural Heritage was celebrated, with ‘cul-
tural heritage in everyday life’ as its special theme. Among the examples of cul-
tural heritage described on the project’s website we fi nd family photographs,
the smell of a special kind of industrial pollution in a provincial town, old and
new clothes, landscapes, audiotaped memories and inventories of household
utensils and home decorations. Th e project declares itself and its very inclu-
sive profi le to be ‘all-embracing, both socially and time-wise, and comprising
both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. By adopting this theme we are
hoping to involve a wide range of the population, including volunteers and
professionals on the local, regional and national level’ (Th e Norwegian Year of
Cultural Heritage 2009).
Th ere are considerable diff erences between Bjerregaard’s obvious disap-
pointment over the clay pots and other inconspicuous artefacts dug out of the
mound and the joy of collecting, preserving and displaying household utensils,
love letters and vernacular buildings demonstrated by the people responsible
for the Year of Cultural Heritage. Present day heritage workers are enthusiastic
about objects from everyday life, while Bjerregaard rejected what he found as
merely prosaic household chattels. Th e terminology used to describe the arte-
facts has also changed. Bjerregaard looked for what he called relics or antiqui-
ties, and the pots did not, in his view, qualify as such. Today, the predominant
term is heritage, which comes very close to being an all-inclusive concept, as