%0 Journal Article
%T Intangible Heritage, 2009 / Laurajane Smith and Natsuko Akagawa, (eds.)
%A Philip Scher
%J International Journal of Intangible Heritage
%D 2012
%I National Folk Museum of Korea
%X Generally the understanding of ¡®heritage¡¯ in much of the academic literature separates it from ¡®history¡¯ and from simply a concept of ¡®the past¡¯ through the idea that ¡®heritage¡¯ is more precisely how contemporary societies interpret and make sense of the past from their contemporary perspective. Heritage often includes monuments and important sites and these are often marked, preserved or protected in some kind of formal way, but they need not be. Heritage studies tend to blur any neat lines between the built landscape, the natural world and what is now known as intangible cultural heritage. Beyond this basic definition, heritage has become a key focus of international organisations such as UNESCO, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the International Council of Museums (ICOM), etc. In the emerging field of Critical Heritage Studiesscholars increasingly focus on the political and economic dimensions of heritage as these become important in such areas as tourism, nationalism, ethnic and national conflicts and state policy making. Overall, the brief definition of heritage as ¡®the present¡¯s use of the past¡¯ serves in these areas of inquiry. But does that samedefinition of heritage carry over into the study of intangible heritage? In many ways it does inasmuch as intangible heritage is often the present society¡¯s use of what are considered cultural practices with deep roots or longevity of performance. Furthermore, such activities, from traditional knowledge and folklore to arts, crafts, dress, cuisine, dance, music, drama, religion and religious ceremonies, and sports and games, (to give a partial list) are increasingly embedded in political and economic contexts that are distinctly contemporary, whether or not the expressive forms themselves continue to be relevant to members of the community. These are some of the issues addressed by Intangible Heritage, amuch needed and timely collection of essays written by an international group of scholars and heritage specialists, some of whom were directly involved in establishing the 2003 Convention.Edited by Laurajane Smith and Natsuko Akagawa, the collection contains fifteen entries organised into three distinct parts. The first part is a reflection on the history of, and key concepts within, the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage which was adopted in 2003 and went into effect in 2006. The second part concerns the material politics and practicesof the intangible , which addresses, critically, the relationships that emerge between communities and states with regard
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