The literature house in the post-digital age: Futures for literary heritage

This research is an intervention into literary and heritage studies, investigating literary heritage sites, and how they might develop out of the current landscape. Much existing research on this topic focuses on the historic development or contemporary situation of historic sites, but this thesis speculates about how the field can change. This focus reflects its development in collaboration with the Edinburgh Literature House project, which would create a space dedicated to Edinburgh literature, intended to be accessible, generate new audiences, and make innovative use of digital technology. The thesis begins by categorising existing models for locating literature, identifying practice and difficulties at literary heritage sites by drawing extensively on site visits. It investigates how site narratives meet existing cultural needs in the UK, and what the benefits of breaking the mould would be when conceptualising new sites and approaches. The research takes the interdisciplinary approach called for in previous work on literary heritage sites, and uses fieldwork, reviews of relevant literature, and a placement with the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust to establish a thorough understanding of contemporary literary heritage sites. Responding to the intentions and plans of the Literature House project, this thesis then proposes two possible approaches that future literary heritage sites might take. Firstly, it considers how houses and homeliness might be used to model more welcoming literary heritage spaces. Secondly, it examines how digital culture has impacted literary practices, and what affordances digital technologies create for experiencing literary narrative at sites. It concludes by embedding this speculation in current funding and spatial contexts in Scotland, considering paths forward for literary heritage sites from 2024.