The social production of ‘attractive authenticity’ at the World Heritage Site of Røros, Norway

Abstract

This paper examines how authenticity and its use as a way of conceptualising the past participates in processes of heritage production, which are here defined as both the social construction of heritage sites and the uses of heritage sites as resources to achieve social goals. We argue that the social production of place and the social values generated by place are linked by a common approach based on the use of 'place attraction' as a unifying social concept. The World Heritage Site of Røros has as an attractive place become a resource for the production of cultural capital among various stakeholders, taking the form of a large body of 'heritage knowledges'. However, a symbolic capital production of 'attractive authenticity' has today generated an idealised past and a purified iconic image of Røros as World Heritage. The discourse of 'attractive authenticity' reveals a conflict of interests where symbolic capital unfolds and makes power relations evident. This exposes a discussion about cultural heritage management practices at World Heritage Sites.

Life in a World Heritage City : A case study of discussions and contested values in Angra do Heroísmo, the Azores

“…Moreover, I would argue that the nomination document present an objective authenticity, by emphasising the "intact", the traditional and the original. Judgements, which are based on the experts' and the authorized views on authenticity (Wang, 1999, Guttormsen andFageraas, 2011). However, some of the facts in the quote contradict the stakeholders' statements outlined in the previous chapter with regard to the result of the reconstruction, who accused the reconstruction of being kitsch or giving a fake feeling.…”

“…Thus, he questions the authenticity or the originality of the present "medievalness" or "oldness" of the city. The concept of authenticity has also been investigated and addressed in regard to the World Heritage City of Røros in Norway, in which it has been argued that the production of an ideal and nostalgic Røros has given an "attractive authenticity" (Guttormsen and Fageraas, 2011). Moreover, Røros has been accused of becoming "too clean", as one of the stakeholders stated during a World Heritage Conference at Røros in 2012 in the framework of the 40 th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention.…”

“…However, several interviewees accentuated the value of the cobblestones, and I would argue that to most people in Angra the cobblestoned streets are authentic, coherent with the image of Angra, and an important part of the cityscape and a tradition to respect. The latter coincides on the other hand with subjective authenticity, which relies on emotional and personal judgements made by the unauthorized or nonexpert on authenticity (Guttormsen and Fageraas 2011).…”

“…As such, the notion of authenticity becomes relative, standing in stark contrast to objective authenticity. Hence, sociologist Ning Wang goes further by introducing the term existential authenticity, which stresses the importance of the interpersonal and intrapersonal in the experiences of the reality (Wang 1999, Guttormsen andFageraas, 2011), and concludes that: "what tourists seek are their own authentic selves and intersubjective authenticity, and the issue of whether the toured object are authentic is irrelevant or less relevant" (Wang 1999:366). Based on these terms, Angra do Heroísmo's authenticity can be seen as a social process, defined and interpreted by the individual in a given context, even experienced in terms of interpersonal and intrapersonal experiences.…”

“…Though, this statement is seen in connection with the heritage industry, it can be used in this context, by the ways in which it stresses how the authenticity discourse goes beyond the real-fake dichotomy or the objective authenticity. Moreover, it relates to the constructionistic authenticity, some of which stresses the relative in the ways in which heritage is perceived and interpreted (Wang 1999, Guttormsen andFageraas 2011).…”