Books in the Cultural Heritage Studies series

In this compelling study, Maria Theresia Starzmann and John Roby bring together an international cast of experts who move beyond the traditional framework of the "constructed past" to look at not only how the past is remembered but also who remembers it. They convincingly argue that memory is a complex process, shaped by remembering and forgetting, inscription and erasure, presence and absence.

"Scholars seeking a survey of the current status of national cultural heritage and cultural property legislation and regulations need look no further. Cultural Heritage Management brings together a worldwide selection of experts to explore both how--and how successfully--different nations deal with the past."--Alex W. Barker, University of Missouri, Columbia"Represents a valuable contribution to the field of heritage studies. Taking a global perspective, it raises issues of significant concern to heritage practitioners and scholars alike."--John Carman, University of Birmingham, UKEven as places and objects that have particular cultural significance are increasingly valued in our global world, powerful forces threaten them with destruction. Cultural Heritage Management discusses the efforts of a broad range of contributors devoted to safeguarding our cultural heritage.Editors Phyllis Mauch Messenger and George Smith have brought together an international group of contributors, featuring archaeologists, anthropologists, development specialists, and others engaged in the study, management, protection, and interpretation of places and objects that represent histories, traditions, and cultural identities.From international law to artifact preservation to site interpretation, there is a wide variety of approaches to the management of our cultural heritage. Combining the voices of scholars and practitioners, the book provides a much-needed diversity of voices and perspectives from people steeped in the issues that directly affect the future of the past.

';Maher explores the development of the Frontier Complex as he deconstructs the frontier myth in the context of manifest destiny, American exceptionalism, and white male privilege. A very significant contribution to our understanding of how and why heritage sites reinforce privilege.' Frederick H. Smith, author of The Archaeology of Alcohol and Drinking ';Peels back the layer of dime westerns and True Grit films to show how their mythologies are made material. You'll never experience a ';heritage site' the same way again.'Christine Bold, author of The Frontier Club: Popular Westerns and Cultural Power, 18801924 The history of the Wild West has long been fictionalized in novels, films, and television shows. Catering to these popular representations, towns across America have created tourist sites connecting such tales with historical monuments. Yet these attractions stray from known histories in favor of the embellished past visitors expect to see and serve to craft a cultural memory that reinforces contemporary ideologies. In Mythic Frontiers, Daniel Maher illustrates how aggrandized versions of the past, especially those of the ';American frontier,' have been used to turn a profit. These imagined historical sites have effectively silenced the violent, oppressive, colonizing forces of manifest destiny and elevated principal architects of it to mythic heights. Examining the frontier complex in Fort Smith, Arkansaswhere visitors are greeted at a restored brothel and the reconstructed courtroom and gallows of ';Hanging Judge' Isaac Parker feature prominentlyMaher warns that creating a popular tourist narrative and disconnecting cultural heritage tourism from history minimizes the devastating consequences of imperialism, racism, and sexism and relegitimizes the privilege bestowed upon white men.