Preserve Not Destroy: The Anthropology of Heritage

Abstract

This “Forum” discusses various aspects of critical heritage studies: the current state of this research field, its internal and external boundaries, the specifics of the Russian context, conceptual and methodological problems, current and perspective issues. The participants reflect on their personal experience of existence in the field of heritage, including a combination of an involved/applied and research position, point out the importance of distinguishing between “emic” and “etic” categories, and emphasise the importance and specificity of the anthropological approach to the study of heritage. The anthropological optics and tools are associated with the identification of the complexity and diversity of the heritage field, its differences and contradictions, the problematisation of dominant discourses, as well as the description of marginalised groups and vernacular practices — which fully corresponds to the problems of critical heritage research. The Forum pays special attention to heritage as an area of civic engagement. The authors’ remarks demonstrate its ambivalence, uncertainty, and variability. Neither the social nor the political characteristics of heritage practices can be unequivocally assessed. In general, the materials of the Forum present Russian heritage research as a well-established field with determined issues and subject matter, and at the same time as a dynamically developing field that expands its thematic boundaries and clarifies its conceptual framework.