Session: #429

Content:

The many nuances of stories of heritage in mass consumption, the questions they raise about storytelling and the influences of various forms of mass consumption on heritage narratives sit behind this session proposal. These aspects are obvious, yet rarely discussed. Heritage, the one that is considered to be preserved well, connects more closely to mass consumption in recent years. Our work on the Neolithic culture 'Yangshao culture' (China) has made us realise that heritage can be consumed by large amounts of people nowadays through visiting archaeological parks and even buying fast-moving commercial goods tagged with the name of heritage, leading to various narratives spreading in public. The research on narratives of heritage in mass consumption is often underdeveloped but important. For example, the dynamics in the interaction between heritage stories in business and those in museums – do the former correspond with or diverge from the latter? Or are the stories for sale made up? How does commercial storytelling supplement or undermine that in heritage sites? Nor have we paid enough attention to various forms of mass consumption of heritage, especially those heritage narratives (re)presented and consumed in places beyond museums and heritage sites (i.e. shops, VR displays, films and archaeogamings). Scant attention to these aspects means that we may have ignored some major factors that influenced the public's understanding of the past. It also means that we have neglected the impacts of mass consumption of heritage on political, cultural, and social dimensions. We call for critical discussions on these issues in the mass consumption of heritage. In turn, we also aim to recognise more of the stakeholders (communities, businesses, institutions, etc) who create and consume those heritage narratives.

Session: #429

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