Maintained in Very Good Condition or Virtually Rebuilt? Destruction of Cultural Property and Narration of Violent Histories

Samuel Andrew Hardy

doi:10.5334/pia.432

Abstract

This paper explores the use of cultural heritage in shaping public understandings of history, identity and justice; it focuses on misinterpretations and misrepresentations of damage to and destruction of archaeological sites and historic buildings in Cyprus. It examines: restoration and its impact on public understandings of history; scholarly conduct in the collection and presentation of data; denial of violence as a tactic to establish peace and recognition of violence as a strategy for building trust; and denial of violence as a strategy for fostering nationalist sentiment and inciting ethnic hatred.<br />First, it addresses the role of monuments and their destruction in memory and amnesia. Then, it identifies inappropriate restoration, which has misdirected professional and public understanding of history. It also demonstrates either wilful ignorance of events or conscious exclusion of inconvenient facts from archaeological and official texts; either way, this is unprofessional practice, which has led to the implicit denial of real violence that was intended to cause ethnic cleansing.

Highlights

In the course of the Cyprus Conflict, there has been a mixture of personal and organised, intra-communal, inter-communal and international violence against historic sites and community places; and there has been a mass of official and/or professional documentation and interpretation of that violence
What roles can the biographies of cultural heritage sites play in building trust and inciting hatred?
This paper argues that even falsely peaceful narratives can contribute to conflict by provoking victims’ anger and distrust, and it appeals for an accurate and consensual history through which divided communities can work towards a genuinely peaceful society

Summary

Samuel Hardy*

This paper explores the use of cultural heritage in shaping public understandings of history, identity and justice; it focuses on misinterpretations and misrepresentations of damage to and destruction of archaeological sites and historic buildings in Cyprus It examines: restoration and its impact on public understandings of history; scholarly conduct in the collection and presentation of data; denial of violence as a tactic to establish peace and recognition of violence as a strategy for building trust; and denial of violence as a strategy for fostering nationalist sentiment and inciting ethnic hatred. It addresses the role of monuments and their destruction in memory and amnesia. It demonstrates either wilful ignorance of events or conscious exclusion of inconvenient facts from archaeological and official texts; either way, this is unprofessional practice, which has led to the implicit denial of real violence that was intended to cause ethnic cleansing

Introduction

Conclusion