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Cultural Heritage as Civilizing Mission: Methodological Considerations

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Cultural Heritage as Civilizing Mission

Abstract

The self-legitimation of political regimes in modern history was and often still is attempted through a twofold strategy: (a) a normative assessment of the ruled country’s past and present, and (b) the enactment of a concrete committed action programme to guide the nation towards a better future. The interest in this dynamic of a normative (intro-)vision on the one hand, and—as a practical consequence—of an applied, action-oriented mission on the other, forms the basis of this volume’s thematic inquiry. Although this critical assessment of the past and present may encompass a wide variety of aspects (social, financial, moral, intellectual, etc.), our focus here is on the specific field of materialized culture, and in particular on the complex of architectural manifestations that crystallizes over time through a multiform process into a (supposedly) “representative,” (i.e. trans-generational and collective) cultural canon of the nation known as cultural heritage.

The era of decadence […] ended with the arrival of the French in Indochina. Civilization does not exist anymore in this privileged country where it once strongly flourished, but the soil preserved its incomparable fertility. Since we put our flag into this region, it seems that [this civilization] begins to live and breathe again. […] is it not up to us to revive the marvelous past of this people, to reconstitute the admirable oeuvres which their genius has created; in a word: to enrich the history of art and the annals of humanity with a new page?

All English translations in this introduction are mine.

Louis Delaporte in this 1880 publication Voyage au Cambodge

Angkor must be saved! This challenge, in which UNESCO proposes to stand beside the people of Cambodia, extends far beyond a mere restoration of relics of the past. For the saving of Angkor will allow an entire people to regain its pride, its will to live and a renewed vigor with which to rebuilt its country. I therefore appeal to the international community as a whole to put the stamp of universal solidarity on the rebirth of Angkor.

UNESCO’s director general, Federico Mayor’s Appeal for the protection, preservation, restoration and presentation of the site of Angkor, launched on November 30, 1991 in front of the Angkor Wat temple

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Original French: La protection et la sauvegarde des monuments, ou plus généralement des oeuvres d’art, intéressant les souvenir et l’histoire de toutes les nations civilisées s’imposent à la pensée de quiconque connaît, aime, respecte les traditions ou les gloires de sa patrie. […] Pénetrés d’une même pensée, nous voulos provoquer un courant sympathique, une ligue internationale, qui puisse constituer, même au milieu des violences de la guerre, une défense efficace du patrimoine légué par le passé à toutes les générations présentes. [italics MF]

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  1. Cluster of Excellence ‘Asia and Europe in a Global Context’, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Michael Falser

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Falser, M. (2015). Cultural Heritage as Civilizing Mission: Methodological Considerations. In: Falser, M. (eds) Cultural Heritage as Civilizing Mission. Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13638-7_1

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