'Fifty-two doors': identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in Lakhnu village

This paper proposes an alternative way of evaluating heritage values in the assessment of an abandoned school building in Lakhnu, a small rural Indian village in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Its aim is to re-think the appropriateness of professionally assessed methodologies, such as the Australian IC...

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Main Author: Stephens, John
Format: Journal Article
Published: Taylor Francis 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43387
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author Stephens, John
author_facet Stephens, John
author_sort Stephens, John
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper proposes an alternative way of evaluating heritage values in the assessment of an abandoned school building in Lakhnu, a small rural Indian village in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Its aim is to re-think the appropriateness of professionally assessed methodologies, such as the Australian ICOMOS Burra Charter, and find others which are more inclusive and sensitive of community views and aspirations. Villagers claim this building as a key part to their cultural heritage, and view its desertion and disintegration with frustration. As part of a larger scheme to improve village infrastructure and to enable its empowerment, the aim is to assess the significance of this place to the villagers, facilitate its conservation and investigate possible outcomes for its use through community participation. In this context, the concept of narrative is offered as means to establish the community meaning of a place. Narratives are powerful ways in which people understand their environment and structure a view of the world. Using stories told by villagers about their relationship with the building, this paper argues that narrative can offer an alternative method of understanding heritage significance.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-433872017-09-13T14:01:05Z 'Fifty-two doors': identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in Lakhnu village Stephens, John heritage significance narrative Lakhnu nostalgia This paper proposes an alternative way of evaluating heritage values in the assessment of an abandoned school building in Lakhnu, a small rural Indian village in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Its aim is to re-think the appropriateness of professionally assessed methodologies, such as the Australian ICOMOS Burra Charter, and find others which are more inclusive and sensitive of community views and aspirations. Villagers claim this building as a key part to their cultural heritage, and view its desertion and disintegration with frustration. As part of a larger scheme to improve village infrastructure and to enable its empowerment, the aim is to assess the significance of this place to the villagers, facilitate its conservation and investigate possible outcomes for its use through community participation. In this context, the concept of narrative is offered as means to establish the community meaning of a place. Narratives are powerful ways in which people understand their environment and structure a view of the world. Using stories told by villagers about their relationship with the building, this paper argues that narrative can offer an alternative method of understanding heritage significance. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43387 10.1080/13527258.2012.758651 Taylor Francis restricted
spellingShingle heritage significance
narrative
Lakhnu
nostalgia
Stephens, John
'Fifty-two doors': identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in Lakhnu village
title 'Fifty-two doors': identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in Lakhnu village
title_full 'Fifty-two doors': identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in Lakhnu village
title_fullStr 'Fifty-two doors': identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in Lakhnu village
title_full_unstemmed 'Fifty-two doors': identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in Lakhnu village
title_short 'Fifty-two doors': identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in Lakhnu village
title_sort 'fifty-two doors': identifying cultural significance through narrative and nostalgia in lakhnu village
topic heritage significance
narrative
Lakhnu
nostalgia
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43387