Abstract
The idea of a transnational cultural heritage has become topical in Europe because of the new EU heritage initiatives, such as the European Heritage Label scheme. Even though the scheme is administered at the European level, its implementation is transferred to heritage agents in the countries participating in the initiative. How do the heritage agents narrate the labeled heritage sites as European? Using the method of narrative analysis, this article identifies six key strategies of making sense of a European cultural heritage. Even though the scheme includes certain frameworks in which the heritage agents have to interpret and narrate the sites as European, it enables them to interpret the idea of Europe in their own way – and thus use their power to define a European identity.
Keywords
narration, nationalism, transnational cultural heritage, European Heritage Label, European identity
How to Cite
Lähdesmäki, T., (2014) “TRANSNATIONAL HERITAGE IN THE MAKING”, Ethnologia Europaea 44(1), 75-93. doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ee.1122
Publisher Notes
- This article was previously published by Museum Tusculanum Press.