Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

"Europe Starts Here!" A Cultural Discourse Analysis of the European Heritage Label

de Vries, Ingeborg LU (2017) TKAM02 20171
Division of Ethnology
Abstract
This thesis analyses the discourse of cultural heritage by taking the European Heritage Label (EHL) as a case study. The European Heritage Label is an organization established in 2011 by the European Union (EU) and created an application process for historical and cultural sites to be labelled as “European Heritage”. This thesis aims to critically analyse heritage as a concept that is used and produced for specific purposes, in an EU context. I question how the European Heritage Label is using and producing cultural heritage, and what the contemporary use is of such. I also research what effect this has on its discourse within EU context by using Smith’s (2006) authorized heritage discourse theory and Hartog’s (2014) historical... (More)
This thesis analyses the discourse of cultural heritage by taking the European Heritage Label (EHL) as a case study. The European Heritage Label is an organization established in 2011 by the European Union (EU) and created an application process for historical and cultural sites to be labelled as “European Heritage”. This thesis aims to critically analyse heritage as a concept that is used and produced for specific purposes, in an EU context. I question how the European Heritage Label is using and producing cultural heritage, and what the contemporary use is of such. I also research what effect this has on its discourse within EU context by using Smith’s (2006) authorized heritage discourse theory and Hartog’s (2014) historical authenticity concept to aid in achieving this. By means of a critical discourse analysis and netnography, I study material such as the legislative document establishing the European Heritage Label, heritage sites as case studies, online webpages, and other visual aspects such as postcards. I have found that through the European Heritage Label the term heritage is appropriated by giving historical and cultural aesthetics and narratives a European aspect. This is done to point out the EU’s influence and to create a certain imagined community. Thus, the discourse of heritage as a contemporary concept experiences a lot of influence from authorized institutions which results in biased selection and exclusion. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
de Vries, Ingeborg LU
supervisor
organization
course
TKAM02 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
heritage, culture, European Heritage Label, EHL, cultural analysis, discourse analysis, labelling, authorized heritage discourse, historicity, Laurajane Smith, Anne Eriksen, MACA
language
English
id
8925197
date added to LUP
2017-10-10 08:51:31
date last changed
2017-10-10 08:51:31
@misc{8925197,
  abstract     = {{This thesis analyses the discourse of cultural heritage by taking the European Heritage Label (EHL) as a case study. The European Heritage Label is an organization established in 2011 by the European Union (EU) and created an application process for historical and cultural sites to be labelled as “European Heritage”. This thesis aims to critically analyse heritage as a concept that is used and produced for specific purposes, in an EU context. I question how the European Heritage Label is using and producing cultural heritage, and what the contemporary use is of such. I also research what effect this has on its discourse within EU context by using Smith’s (2006) authorized heritage discourse theory and Hartog’s (2014) historical authenticity concept to aid in achieving this. By means of a critical discourse analysis and netnography, I study material such as the legislative document establishing the European Heritage Label, heritage sites as case studies, online webpages, and other visual aspects such as postcards. I have found that through the European Heritage Label the term heritage is appropriated by giving historical and cultural aesthetics and narratives a European aspect. This is done to point out the EU’s influence and to create a certain imagined community. Thus, the discourse of heritage as a contemporary concept experiences a lot of influence from authorized institutions which results in biased selection and exclusion.}},
  author       = {{de Vries, Ingeborg}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{"Europe Starts Here!" A Cultural Discourse Analysis of the European Heritage Label}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}