Abstract
The concept of intangibility points, among other things, to investigations focused on the workings of cultural transmission and reproduction. In contrast with material artefacts, intangible creations endure only through active, socially maintained processes of transmission from older to younger practitioners. These transmissions usually involve training and apprenticeships, sizeable investments of time and energy that must be meaningful and rewarding for this who undertake them. Languages, of course, exist in just these way, and may provide an illuminating paradigm for the transmission of intangible heritage, and for research on that subject.
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Pratt, M.L. (2013). Thoughts on Intangibility and Transmission. In: Arizpe, L., Amescua, C. (eds) Anthropological Perspectives on Intangible Cultural Heritage. SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace, vol 6. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00855-4_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00855-4_7
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