What is heritage?

# Glossary

aesthetic
  concerned with sensory (primarily visual) judgements of beauty, taste and value

conservation
  in the UK, the processes of maintenance and protection from destruction or change, usually with some legal sanctions. In the USA, the term ‘preservation’ is used

discourse
  lit. speech or discussion; often used in a more theoretical context to describe a form of communication which requires specialised (‘inside’) knowledge

indigenous
  ethnic group who occupied a geographic area prior to the arrival and subsequent occupation of migrant settlers. The term may be used in some circumstances to include groups who may not have been part of the ‘original’ occupation of an area, but who were part of an early historical period of occupation prior to the most recent colonisation, annexation or formation of a new nation-state

inherent
  the idea that the values of a heritage object, place or practice are inseparable from its physical qualities

intangible
  something considered to be a part of heritage that is not a physical object or place, such as a memory, a tradition or a cultural practice, as opposed to tangible heritage

intrinsic
  see inherent

locality
  the location and particular qualities of a place

‘ official ’ heritage
  state-sponsored or controlled processes of heritage listing and management. The term is often used in opposition to the term ‘unofficial’ heritage

oral history
  the transmission of history by verbal means. Often a feature of non-literate cultures

oral tradition
  see oral history

subaltern
  subordinate or overlooked. A person or group of low social status and their cultural expression which is excluded from common representations of the nation

values
  in heritage parlance, the reason that explains the definition of an object, place or practice as heritage

Venice Charter
  The International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites, which was drafted at the Second International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments in Venice in 1964 and adopted by ICOMOS in 1965

World Heritage Conv ention
  The Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972, which established the World Heritage List and the process for listing World Heritage sites

World Heritage sites
  Places listed on the World Heritage List

OpenLearn - What is heritage?
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