A Critical Turn in Heritage Studies: From Power Discourse to Grassroots Practices

In this article, the author analyzes the subject field of cultural heritage studies, starting from the time of the emergence of the scientific discourse on heritage in the 19th century and ending with contemporary critical studies. It is noted that the works published in the last decades revise the usual idea of cultural heritage as an authentic medium between past and present, and instead propose to understand heritage in its processual forms, be it authorized discourses, expert nomination or grassroots practices of protection and care. In doing so, the temporal dimension of heritage, its devalorization and reassembly in relation to the needs of contemporary viewers, becomes important. The author sets out to identify the main directions and reference points of heritage studies and critical heritage studies, theoretical and applied limitations, as well as to determine what leads to the defragmentation of this subject area and whether this process is to be feared. The paper focuses on grassroots practices of heritage use: appropriation, commodification and routinization, and the place heritage is given in the space of the contemporary city.