Production of Local Spaces of Memory by Intangible World Heritage

Abstract

Spaces of memory are part of communities’ collective memory and objectified in cultural heritage. Spaces just as memory and heritage can be understood as social constructs, whose production has to be analysed as a socio-political practice. With reference to Halbwachs’ work on collective memory, Lefebvre’s spatial triad relating to the production of social space and Martinez’ distinction between faith- and economic-based and economic-based immaterial heritage, the article highlights the social production of spaces of memory and the mutual relations between the entrenchment of collective memory and modes of production of space in Elx, a Spanish town decorated with two inscriptions on the World Heritage List: the Palmerar, a landscape of groves of date palms from the 9thcentury, and the Misteri, a medieval mystery play. Existing case studies and official documents complemented by interviews and participant observations were analysed to demonstrate the production of different kinds of spaces of memory and divergent practices to remember, and this is reflected in the preservation and transformation of cultural heritage.