Remembering the Old World: An Analysis of the Interaction Between Virtual Heritage and Cultural Memory

Merlijn Veltman

doi:10.33391/jgjh.34

Abstract

Preserving cultural heritage is becoming increasingly difficult. Archaeological heritage in the Middle East is targeted and deliberately destroyed by terrorist organizations such as Daesh, and valuable Syrian heritage is destroyed in the country’s civil war. One possibility for preserving cultural heritage is by creating a virtual reality environment, embedded with cultural heritage, often defined as ‘virtual heritage’ or by three-dimensionally printing pieces of heritage. It is important to discuss the effects of new media on heritage, as these are still poorly understood. This paper examines the virtualization of cultural heritage through the lens of cultural memory studies. I ask the research question: how does virtualization affect the process of creating cultural memory through heritage? First, I examine the essence of heritage and its role in creating cultural memory. Second, I examine the effects of virtualization on the link between heritage and its locality. The conclusion of this paper is that the effects of virtualization on the process of constructing cultural memory through heritage are two-fold. First, the scale of the heritage is increased from a local, regional or national level to a global dimension. This allows for a new way of formulating identity, moved away from nationality and towards a global identity. Second, the process of creating cultural memory is democratised, allowing more individuals to concern themselves with heritage preservation and identity formation.

Highlights

The cultural heritage in the Middle East is under heavy fire
This paper examines the virtualization of cultural heritage through the lens of cultural memory studies, by asking the research question: how does virtualization affect the process of constructing cultural memory through heritage? My hypothesis is that the effects of virtualization on the process of constructing cultural memory from lieux de memoire are two-fold
In this paper I set out to answer the research question: how does virtualization affect the process of constructing cultural memory through heritage? I examined this process in two distinct ways: first, I looked into the process of democratizing heritage and the essential nature of heritage

Summary

Introduction

The cultural heritage in the Middle East is under heavy fire. It is used as a way to fuel war and terrorism, and perhaps even as a way to destroy the modern connection to the past. My hypothesis is that the effects of virtualization on the process of constructing cultural memory from lieux de memoire are two-fold. Virtualization alters the process of interaction with heritage and the creation of cultural memory.

Results

Conclusion