Heritage versus History

I've enjoyed watching the TV programme Ian Hislop's Olden Days on BBC 2 over the past few weeks.  The programme looks at the ways in which the British have looked back to reimagine previous periods of our history in an idealised way, as a means of coping with contemporary concerns.

This week's episode was about the Victorians' obsession with the Middle Ages.  At a time of incredible social, economic and technological change, the Victorians looked back with fondness to the, supposed, more static social structure and gentler rhythms of the Middle Ages.  This nostalgia was visually reflected in the Gothic revival in architecture, in the arts and crafts movement, led by William Morris, and in the paintings produced by the Pre-Raphaelites.

Since watching this episode, I've been considering which era of British history we currently idealise. One can see a certain fondness for the post-war decades reflected in the current interest with all things 'vintage' and in the resurgence of vinyl records, while the middle class obsession with 'artisan' produce and 'authenticity' betray a 'nostalgia' for the diverse crafts that flourished in a less technological society.  However, these nostalgic traits do not focus on a specific period of British history. 

I have come to the conclusion that it is our idealised view of history itself that characterises this age.  Our current obsession with Heritage over History is the touchstone of this view. Whereas History objectively studies the past to identify and understand the operation of significant processes, such as those leading to the industrial revolution and the emergence of a democratic society, Heritage is largely concerned with the exterior appearance of the past, as seen in buildings and artefacts such as castles, stately homes and steam engines. In this sense, History is concerned with process, whereas Heritage is concerned with product. Historians obviously study buildings and artefacts, but are interested in the contributions that these remains make to a deeper interrogation of the past.




Heritage has in many ways come to dominate and determine our collective national experience of the past, through visits to castles, stately homes, museums and other cultural sites in Britain.  Whilst such visits can act as a catalyst to spur people to learn more about the past, they often just represent a day out at the weekend or on a bank holiday.  This is fine in itself, but we need to investigate the deeper implications of our obsession with Heritage.  One of these is that people will not get a rounded picture of the past.  For instance, a visit to a stately home might provide lots of information about the aristocrats who lived there, but could offer very little insight into the complex lives of the ordinary people who worked there.  This might seem like nit picking, but I think we have a responsibility to ensure that people have access to balanced information about the past, especially as the current Government seems determined to reduce school History to a study of 'key' dates and famous figures from the past.  Another concern is the way in which Heritage is now closely linked with consumerism, threatening the veracity of the Heritage experience.  This is seen very clearly in the marketing of Heritage attractions such as the Beamish Museum in Northumberland, whose entrance charges automatically exclude certain sectors of society from gaining admission.  In  this way, Heritage becomes part of the consumer society, so that paying an entrance fee to visit a castle becomes similar to other retail transactions.  The implication of this is that Heritage providers will attempt to make the visit as entertaining as possible, thereby possibly diluting the educational part of the experience even more.  This process can ultimately lead to Heritage sites becoming branded, like products.





It is hardly surprising that Heritage has come to symbolise our national view of the past, as this subjective approach fits very well into a post-modern perspective, where multiple perspectives are accorded equal value and objective truth is seen as an unfashionable hangover from the past.  Maybe we should exercise a more questioning and discerning approach to the Heritage sites which we visit, in order to ensure that the visit has more than simple entertainment value and offers us some insight into the nuances of our shared past.

Drive-By Truckers - Ronnie & Neil

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young and Rock Mythology

The Drive By Trucker's song Ronnie and Neil appeared on their double album Southern Rock Opera in 2001.  The album intertwines the rise of Betamax Guillotine, a fictitious rock band, with the real story of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and takes a wry look at the South.






Ronnie and Neil investigates the supposed rivalry between Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd (Ronnie Van Zant was lead singer in the band) after Young wrote the songs Southern Man and Alabama.  Both songs are critical of the South, and in particular of Alabama, for the racism that Young saw as a toxic legacy of the days of slavery in the South.  The Lynyrd Skynyrd song Sweet Home Alabama has traditionally been seen as a riposte to Young's earlier songs about the South, stating the case for the South against Young's perceived Northern bias.  Many people have extrapolated from the lyrics of Sweet Home Alabama that Young and Skynyrd were engaged in some sort of dispute, but Ronnie and Neil provides us with a fresh perspective on this piece of rock mythology:

Now Ronnie and Neil became good friends their feud was just in song
Skynyrd was a bunch of Neil Young fans and Neil he loved that song
So He wrote Powderfinger for Skynyrd to record
But Ronnie ended up singing Sweet Home Alabama to the lord

And Neil helped carry Ronnie in his casket to the ground
And to my way of thinking, us southern men need both of them around.

The reality is that Alabama and Southern Man inspired Skynyrd to write Sweet Home Alabama, and Sweet Home Alabama can be viewed as tacitly supporting Young's anti-racism, although people have also said that Skynyrd were uncritically aping redneck  attitudes in the song:

"In Birmingham [Alabama, where a black church was bombed, killing 4 young girls) they love the governor [George Walace, who was a segregationist).

Young and Van Zant had a great deal of respect and admiration for each other, and Young wrote Powderfinger, amongst other songs, for Skynyrd to record, as he said that the band reminded him of Buffalo Springfield.  Unfortunately, this wasn't to be, as three band members, including Van Zant, died on October 20th, 1977 when the plane that they were travelling in crashed.  It is particularly poignant that after the fatal plan crash, Young performed  Alabama  in Florida.  He performed with the Gone With The Wind Orchestra and changed the chorus from Alabama to Sweet Home Alabama.

The only mythical part of Ronnie and Neil is the claim that Young was pallbearer at Van Zant's funeral, although it could be argued that the Drive By Truckers were just using artistic licence to emphasise the bond that existed between Young, Van Zant and the other members of Skynyrd.



Ronnie and Neil Ronnie and Neil
Rock stars today ain't half as real
Speaking their minds on how they feel
Let them guitars blast for Ronnie and Neil.

The semiotics of blogging

I have been thinking about the process of blogging, as I am relatively new to it, and feel that it's useful to view blogging in terms of its function as a sign in the broadest sense of the word.

While a blog clearly contains written content, it may also be regarded as constituting a sign, as the writing itself signifies many things about the writer, such as their interests,intentions,  their level of literacy and general education, amongst other things.  In this sense, blogging fits neatly into the definition of communication proposed by cultural theorist Umberto Eco, who posited the idea that every type of cultural phenomenon constitutes communication. In this anthropological approach, newspapers, blogs, speech, graffiti etc can be analysed to unearth their implicit meaning(s).

So, taking this line of thought one step further, this post itself is a sign.  Symbolising what?  Maybe that I am interested in cultural theory, am a dilettante, am a pseudo intellectual...

Embrace - Come Back To What You Know

I just heard this anthemic indie classic on the Dermot O'Leary show on Radio 2.  What a great, uplifting track.

PIXIES - GREENS AND BLUES

 

Awesome return to form for the Pixies.  This track taken from EP2.

Plain Sailing

Not another dodgy boating metaphor, but the title of an excellent music compilation that I stumbled across on a recent sonic ramble. The artists featured range from the familiar, such as Ben Watt, to the more obscure singer songwriters such as Tim Rose and Kathy Smith. Although the featured artists come from different eras, all share a unique approach to performing exquisite acoustic songs. One of the lessons that I have taken away from a good listen to  this album is that the unsung and underachievers often have most to offer if we would only give them the opportunity to spellbind us.