UNDERSTANDING THE USES OF CULTURAL HERITAGE: SOME EXAMPLES FROM ALGERIA

Abstract

Undoubtedly, for a thing to be, in some sense, useful for one and all is to claim universally the role that it should play in people’s lives. Some argue that heritage has different roles as it is conceived as knowledge molded following different meanings. Having all that in mind, this study aims at exploring the nature of heritage, mainly the notion of cultural heritage as it is a contested subject. Of particular interest for this study would be an analysis of heritage as social and cultural constructions articulated within cultural practice. Within this respect then, heritage is represented as a conceptualization of different meanings linked to space-time, performance and commemoration, affect, and tangibility/intangibility. To that end, the study points to some preliminary examples from the Algerian context to explain heritage uses.It is found in this study that heritage is not simply about material things like objects in a museum, monuments, pyramids, or manuscripts but it is rather about the cultural actions and social meanings inherited in them. Indeed, it is activities of reminiscence and commemoration that make all physical objects valuable.