Conference article

This paper is an only slightly enlarged version of the plenary paper prepared for Inter: A European Cultural Studies Conference in Sweden; by ACSIS; Norrköping 11-13 June 2007. On the basis of examples from historical docu-soaps and contemporary art involving reenactment; the interweaving of cultural knowledge production and cultural practices in the realm of experiencing and/or consuming the past are shown. Building on Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s concept “meta-cultural production”; the term meta-historical productions is suggested and differentiated from a more politically motivated “culturalization” also present in heterogeneous societies. The paper further postulates that the experiential motivations inherent to phenomena such as reenacting are a major reason for the growing spectrum of meta-historical productions. They go; however; hand in hand with legitimating bureaucratic regimes such as heritage programs or efforts to bestow copyright on them; thus seeking to harness such phenomena for political; legal and economic purposes.

No keywords available