Authenticity in Cultural Heritage Tourism as a means

Authenticity in Cultural Heritage Tourism as a means to Sustainability

Authenticity Dimensions of authenticity: Objective: Boorstin, Mac. Cannell Constructed: Cohen, Urry, Rojek Personal: Bruner, Wang Polarity of theory: Object -------Subject

Søren Kierkegaard 1813 -1855 The human subject is a synthesis of: the infinite ----- the finite possibility ----- necessity Authenticity: to focus on one thing as a result of a choice The truth is subjective, but the subjectivity is not the truth The authentic experience is subjective, but the subjective experience is not necessarily authentic

Mikhail Bakhtin 1895 -1975 The Chronotope: Kronos: time Topos: space Dialogue: time ---- space change, flux ---- stasis, fixity. Space/stasis: Time/change: Trial pattern Odysseus Tristan El Cid Spiderman

Dialogue Authenticity and the personal experience Time/space: - axiological - tied up with judgments about good or bad Dialogue: an event Human being: a project or deed Authenticity and cultural heritage: • temporality: changes through generations • spatiality: myths, symbols or signs As a communicative principle the chronotope establishes a constant dialogue between generality and uniqueness

Sustainability Cultural Heritage Management Concerns: • identifying cultural heritage with reference to conservation for future generations • the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, including traditional values and heritage The chronotope: a principle to identify cultural heritage Generality: structures, symbols or myths Uniqueness: special or exceptional features

Taarnborg Cultural history from 1500 -1750 Exterior: historic Interior: past and present Investigation: Method An empirical survey among visitors through the method of participant observation Question The chronotope: catalyst for authenticity in • Cultural Heritage Management? • The touristic experience?

Renaissance event Ribe is the oldest town of Denmark - Historic greatness in the 1500 -1600 The idea of the event: Outdoor: Stasis predominant Renaissance experienced trough a historic staging - People in Renaissance dress, marketplace, games, music, spectacle, entertainment, food Indoor: Bears witness of changing times Renaissance experienced in the light of the present -Talks/lectures, tales, workshops, communication today, multimedia and virtual mediation

Social responsibility Activities: religious ideas and concepts Approach: non-confessional Principal idea: experiencing the spirit of the place - transformation (Pine and Gilmore, 1999) Ambition: exponent for transformation - not founded on ultimate answers or idealistic ideas - but duality and conflict of human existence

Duality and authenticity Duality: Human subject - exists between flux and fixity Cultural heritage -constantly in the process of production and reproduction. The chronotope is to be investigated as the place where knots of authenticity are tied and untied.