Abstract
The study presents an investigation of a regional authorized heritage discourse, represented by the County Administrative Board on signs set up at an- cient monuments and sites in the province of Skåne in southern Sweden. The starting point is a critical analysis of layout, texts and illustrations to ascertain the narratives conveyed by the signs. The results show that slightly less than half of the studied signs work well according to the criteria set up for the study. The result also demonstrates that more than half of the studied signs do not work well according to these cri- teria. Those that work well give detailed information about the ancient monument or site. The signs that do not work well give inadequate information and risk excluding a majority of the people who read them. The latter signs confirm what so many other discourse analyses have shown, that the authorized heritage dis- course to a large extent still privileges the perspectives of a white, middle-class male. The former signs, that is, those that are judged to work well in terms of the criteria applied in this study, show that the authorized heritage discourse does not only offer something that privileges the perspectives of that white, middle class male, but also has the ability to offer narratives with other perspectives.
Highlights
Conveying information and knowledge at ancient monuments and heri tage sites is an obvious element in today’s cultural heritage management
If we look beyond questions of how places, knowledge, and information are presented and made accessible at major ancient monuments and heritage sites and ask instead about the content of the information provided at sites which are not staged with the aid of some kind of investment in infrastructure or expensive visitor centre, but merely mediated with the aid of an information sign, it turns out that this form of communication has not been studied to any great extent
This study considers the communication of information at sites like this. It is done by means of a case study of signs set up by the County Administrative Board in Skåne in south Sweden at ancient monuments and heritage sites
Summary
The study presents an investigation of a regional authorized heritage discourse, represented by the County Administrative Board on signs set up at ancient monuments and sites in the province of Skåne in southern Sweden. In a discourse analysis Smith conducts a critical discussion of the established institutionalization and self-confirming practice of heritage management She demonstrates that the power over how ancient monuments and sites are communicated and made accessible rests with a small group of professionals: officials, antiquarians, and scholars. Half of the analysed signs contain wordings which, based on the criteria for this study, have been judged to be less exclusive and do not confirm prevailing power roles as described by Smith (2006) This indicates a complexity and dynamic in the way the County Administrative Board as a regional authorized heritage discourse communicates. The texts contain archaeological or antiquarian knowledge and information about the ancient monument (Gustafsson & Karlsson 2004:83ff)
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