'Manxness': The Uses of Heritage on the Isle of Man

Elizabeth Catte

doi:10.5130/phrj.v22i0.4752

Abstract

This article examines how the Isle of Man, a self-governing crown dependency located in the center of the British Isles, uses heritage to create social stability among a diverse and rapidly changing population. The result of this process has been a powerful model of heritage branding through which all definitions of national identity must flow. After tracing the development of ‘Manx’ national identity from the Victorian era to the present, this article explores the benefits and limitations of the Isle of Man’s political uses of its history and shares insight from the practice of public history on the Isle of Man.

Highlights

In her 2006 work Uses of Heritage, archaeologist Laurajane Smith argues that heritage is a social construction dominated by an ‘authorized heritage discourse’ in which experts and authorities ‘forge a sense of common identity based on the past’ from ‘materially pleasing objects, sites, places, and/or landscapes’.1 This argument suggests that the construction of heritage is often a top-down process managed by governments in order to naturalize narratives and identities the state finds valuable
‘Manxness’: Uses of Heritage on the Isle of Man
I analyze the construction of heritage – both as a discourse and an industry – in the Isle of Man, a small quasi-independent island in the middle of the Irish Sea with an ambitious model of heritage branding

Summary

Introduction

In her 2006 work Uses of Heritage, archaeologist Laurajane Smith argues that heritage is a social construction dominated by an ‘authorized heritage discourse’ in which experts and authorities ‘forge a sense of common identity based on the past’ from ‘materially pleasing objects, sites, places, and/or landscapes’.1 This argument suggests that the construction of heritage is often a top-down process managed by governments in order to naturalize narratives and identities the state finds valuable.

Results

Conclusion