We live, for better or worse, in a material world and the conditions of capitalism have transformed the idea of commodities from products to services, which is an issue of note for historic sites. A concern that is often repeated by historians with regard to sites of public history is that by turning these places into a commodity to be sold to the public, history is cheapened. However, many in the field refute this vilification of the commodification of cultural heritage as a “product of social failure” (Baillie, Chatzoglou, and Taha 2010, 51-52). They argue that, in fact, tailoring these sites to “popular sentiments” can keep them “economically and socially viable” which increases not only their reach to a wider audience, but also their longevity as physical sites of memory (Baillie, Chatzoglou, and Taha 2010, 52). Creating heritage tourism at sites of memory that is “usable” for visitors can improve accessibility and lead to an increase in diverse perspectives filtering into the public’s collective consciousness (McManus and O’Reilly 2017, 53, 59). Where, in the past, interpretation at historic sites was something that was created by, and for, an elite, white audience, the adaptation of inclusive approaches to commodify heritage sites has attracted wider public attention (Baillie, Chatzoglou, and Taha 2010, 55).
The real danger inherent in commodification of heritage is the potential to “distort the past” into a “spectacle of history made false” (Baillie, Chatzoglou, and Taha 2010, 56; Boyer 1992, 204). In addition, this shift of memory into a distorted spectacle can lead to compartmentalization of the past from the present which can place the audience in a position that makes them tourists at places of memory rather than active players in the community that these sites continue to influence (Baillie, Chatzoglou, and Taha 2010, 60). Examples of the precariousness of this particular concern can be seen at where a “Japanese gaze” has defined the consumption of heritage available to tourists on the islands (Figal 2008, 86).
The site of the Battle of Boyne in Oldbridge, Ireland is another example that exemplifies the difficult balance that historic sites must contend with to be able to interpret the built environment in places of “troubled history” that promotes heritage while simultaneously encapsulating many perspectives, in a sensitive way, but also one that is interesting enough to be “usable” to visitors so that they will be willing to continue to visit and thus fund the preservation of the site (McManus and O’Reilly 2017, 55-56). According to visitor reviews at the Battle of Boyne Visitor Centre they have "done a fair job in keeping the site of a potentially very inflammatory site neutral" but in doing so, they have created an identity crisis for the site which some visitors find disappointing (McManus and O’Reilly 2017, 64-65). Obviously, these are not easy goals to accomplish and, more often than not, it seems that heritage sites have shied away from this challenge leading to the unfortunate side effect of the sanitization of sites where “memory is safely made dead” (Baillie, Chatzoglou, and Taha 2010, 67). It is clear that to some extent the commodification of heritage sites is a “necessary evil” (Baillie, Chatzoglou, and Taha 2010, 69). Public historians, preservationists, interpreters must rise to the challenge of walking the delicate line between selling out history for financial gain and excluding the public in a quest for authenticity.
Bibliography
Baillie, Britt, Afroditi Chatzoglou, and Shadia Taha. "Packaging the Past: The Commodification of Heritage." Heritage Management 3, no. 1 ( 2010): 51-71. Accessed March 3, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1179/hma.2010.3.1.51
Boyer, Christine. "Cities for Sale: Merchandising History at South Street Seaport.” In Variations on a Theme Park. Edited by Michael Sorkin, 181-204. New York: Hill and Wang: 1992.
Figal, Gerald. “Between War and Tropics: Heritage Tourism in Postwar Okinawa.” The Public Historian 30, no. 2 (Spring 2008): 83-107. Accessed March 3, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2008.30.2.83
McManus, Ruth and Gerry O'Reilly. "Heritage Tourism and the Commodification of Contested Spaces: Ireland and the Battle of the Boyne Site." In Heritage and Tourism in Britain and Ireland. Edited by Glenn Hooper, 53-69. London: Palgrave MacMillan UK, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, accessed March 3, 2023, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucf/detail.action?docID=4812818
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