Abstract
The market for selling experiences and products influenced by various connotations of the past is continuously increasing. Guidebooks play a role in introducing cultural history to a growing tourist market. A study of four European cultural historic guidebooks draws attention to some of the differences that appear in the way national heritage assets are presented. The analysis reveals that guidebooks are more restricted in representation form and writing genre than initially presumed. By choosing a representation form dominated by a cartographic style of writing, where factual information play a dominant role, the text in the guidebooks leaves the reader in the role of a distanced observer. It is primarily via the illustrations that the heritage assets act as a scene for contemplation, involvement or for adventure. The material is interpreted within a framework that draws attention to the interaction that takes place between the representations of the past and contemporary society.
Highlights
A purposive selection and a particular filtering takes place in order to influence the types of representation of cultural history and heritage, thereby leaving traces of idyll and nostalgia
The neutral and fact-based representation form dominates all four guidebooks. That both the Swedish and the Spanish guidebooks comprise primarily this presentation form is likely due to the organising structures in both guidebooks, where several heritage assets are included in a rather short and congested text. When it comes to representations concerned with idyll and harmony, the guidebook for England, Wales and Northern Ireland scores slightly higher than the rest (NT : 19.2 per cent ; VV : 16.9 per cent ; pilgrim guidebook (PG) : 9.3 per cent ; Swedish guidebook (SG) : 6 per cent)
42 We shall return to the preliminary questions we raised : Are certain aspects of the historic process accentuated ? And if this is the case, to what extent does this influence the type of representation that is chosen ? Does a form of selection and filtering take place which influences the manner in which cultural history and heritage are presented, creating traces of idyll and nostalgia ? We shall discuss these matters in light of the first set of questions guiding the analysis ; that is, the options of historical themes presented in the opening section
Summary
A purposive selection and a particular filtering takes place in order to influence the types of representation of cultural history and heritage, thereby leaving traces of idyll and nostalgia. Various ways of presenting and interpreting heritage analysis of these texts, we ask what versions or elements of history the publishers are trying to communicate to readers ; and whether each text comprises primarily factual historical information or particular depictions aiming to evoke nostalgia. 189) There will always be parts of history that certain people will wish to forget – a dissonance that highlights the fact that heritage will always be a result of a process of selection wherein power relations and political influence play an essential part (Graham et al, 2000 ; Tunbridge & Ashworth, 1996 ; Phelps et al, 2002 ; Smith, 2006). It is argued that visual perception of landscape happens through a more general bodily engagement that involves all senses (Benediktsson & Lund, 2010)
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