Heritage and Authenticity

Abstract

The heritage crusade, as Lowenthal (2003) called it, is inextricably linked to an authenticity craze. Authenticity in heritage has been sought, tested, praised, critiqued and denied from the perspectives of art, architecture, landscape, anthropology, archaeology, tourism, museums and other fields. In a popular book, The Authenticity Hoax (2010), Andrew Potter observed that ‘authenticity is a contrastive term’ and ‘is something people definitely want. That is, when something is described as “authentic”, what is invariably meant is that it is a Good Thing’ (2010, p. 6). Though some argue that profitable discussion of authenticity has reached its end, I believe that the concept remains vitally important, albeit changed from earlier understandings.