Info 142 What is Cultural Heritage

School of Information Management & Systems.
142 Access to American Cultural Heritages. Buckland. Fall 1997.

SO WHAT IS CULTURAL HERITAGE?

We have used the phrase "cultural heritage" all semester.
"Culture" we found from the first assignment was defined by E. B. Tylor, back in 1871, as including "knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." The Encyclopedia Britannica definition is: "the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior." The definitions agree that culture is not genetically transmitted but learned.
So what than should we consider cultural heritage to be, if not culture itself? Suppose that we were to limit our notion to material objects, including records and, if you wish, physical performances such as traditional dances, what would you regard as important?

For yourself personally, or for someone known to you, or for any group you choose, say what you consider to be significant as cultural heritage and why.

It is difficult to make much distinction between "culture" and "cultural heritage" since "culture" is by definition inherited. Three ideas:

1. Use of "cultural heritage" to denote the means through which cultural knowledge is transmitted. "Culture" refers to the system in which on lives (i.e. behavior); "cultural heritage" is that which is transmitted (i.e. what (in)formed the behavior).

2. Culture is present, cultural heritage is therefore historical. "By taking a culture and handing it down to future generations, [they] have enabled their people to inherit a structure of living.... That would imply that cultural heritage must have some history behind it, and that culture is something relatively new.

3. It may be useful to use specific forms of cultural heritage, e.g. artefacts as cultural heritage, music as cultural heritage, etc., rather than try to distinguish "cultural heritage" from "culture".

One has multiple cultures, e.g. the intersection of Korean, Korean-American, and American, but also regional culture, television culture,... "I concurrently belong to different cultural groups from which I acquire cultural knowledge."

Cultural inheritance is active not passive: "Culture is both a group phenomenon and the result of our knowledge derived from our thinking brains." Since culture is a matter of choice, "I am reluctant to settle for the definition of cultural heritage as that which you inherit, because it is not yours unless you know about it, and you cannot inherit knowledge. It requires interaction with relatives, visiting where you came from, and even getting hold of a document, whether it be a 200 page manuscript of an autobiography (like my mom's mom wrote), or a piece of grass that my dad smuggled." "I tend to think, then, that cultural heritage generally encompasses more than culture itself. For, in addition to encompassing the seemingly infinite facets of culture, cultural heritage also involves the use of these facets by members and non-members of the culture..." Cultural heritage is developed through experience. It is not something that can easily be taught.

... and selective: A tendency to emphasize the old and the pleasant. "... cultural heritage is defined by the people who inherit and interpret it." One's bad past acts are history rather than heritage. So the Holocaust may be history to Germans but heritage to Jews.

Cultural heritage objects are symbolic: "In thinking about my own personal cultural heritage I began to think of what is important to me. What ideas symbolize my identity in terms of my culture? I tried to think about what I would display if I had to create a museum exhibit on my cultural heritage." "Cultural heritage means to me anything that conjures up images of or shows what it means to be a person of a certain culture"

Culture and culture heritage are used to meet a need: "Taking part in traditions gives a sense of community, a sense of home, a tie that grounds me to something in the past." "To be organized as a group, one needs a sense of commonality and cultural heritage provides this need. In sharing a common history, customs, belief, etc., one gets the sense of belonging, giving one an identity." Culture provides life with a sense of structure that people feel they can follow.

Contemplating cultural heritage helps explain: "I find that understanding my cultural background helps to explain some of the strange things I do and think."

Postscript: Comments and notes by Fall 1995 students.

"Cultural heritage means to me, anything that conjures up images of or shows what it means to be a person of a certain culture." "I concurrently belong to different cultural groups from which I acquire cultural knowledge." "Culture is both a group phenomenon and the result of our knowledge derived from our thinking brains. Culture is all around us, as pervasive and necessary as water is to a school of fish."
Bad past acts are history rather than heritage! So the Holocaust may be history to Germans but heritage to Jews.
"Culture" refers to the system in which on lives (i.e. behavior); "Cultural heritage" is that which is transmitted (i.e. what (in)formed the behavior.
"I find that understanding my cultural background helps to explain some of the strange things I do and think." "Taking part in traditions gives a sense of community, a sense of home, a tie that grounds me to something in the past."
Culture provides life with a sense of structure that people feel they can follow. "By taking a culture and handing it down to future generations, the Bollytogs have enabled their people to inherit a structure of living.... That would imply that cultural heritage must have some history behind it, and that culture is something relatively new. ... cultural heritage is defined by the people who inherit and interpret it."
Since culture is a matter of choice, "I am reluctant to settle for the definition of cultural heritage as that which you inherit, because it is not yours unless you know about it, and you cannot inherit knowledge. It requires interaction with relatives, visiting where you came from, and even getting hold of a document, whether it be a 200 page manuscript of an autobiography (like my mom's mom wrote), or a piece of grass that my dad smuggled."
Cultural heritage is developed through experience. It is not something that can easily be taught.
"I tend to think, then, that cultural heritage generally encompasses more than culture itself. For, in addition to encompassing the seemingly infinite facets of culture, cultural heritage also involves the use of these facets by members and non-members of the culture..."
"To be organized as a group, one needs a sense of commonality and cultural heritage provides this need. In sharing a common history, customs, belief, etc., one gets the sense of belonging, giving one an identity."
"In thinking about my own personal cultural heritage I began to think of what is important to me. What ideas symbolize my identity in terms of my culture? I tried to think about what I would display if I had to create a museum exhibit on my cultural heritage."
Tendency to emphasize the old and the pleasant.

Difficult to make much distinction between "culture" and "cultural heritage" since "culture" is by definition inherited. It may be more useful to think in terms of various forms of cultural heritage, e.g. artefacts as cultural heritage, music as cultural heritage, etc., rather than try to distinguish "cultural heritage" from "culture".