Birth stories: Childbirth,remembrance and ‘everyday’ heritage

Based on the work of critical and feminist heritage scholars who have argued that heritage sites need to pay more attention to everyday experience, we argue that the omission of birth stories from mainstream heritage sites is a problem that needs rectifying. Through an analysis of oral histories undertaken with mothers and midwives in mid 20th Century Wales, we trace out key themes on which such a project could focus, highlighting themes of corporeality, emotions and sense of place. We conclude by signaling some of the steps that would be needed to make such a project happen, and suggest that this move would not only extend understanding of “everyday” heritage, but also add greater depth and nuance to how place is narrated within such spaces.     

Miracle boats and other wonders: Locating affect in the narratives of recovery and removal of Japanese post-disaster debris

This paper investigates how affective space is located and constructed in post-disaster places. In elaborating this concept, we observe the media narratives developed around the debris created by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region of Japan. The tsunami waves washed away over 20 million tons of debris, some of which was retrieved in foreign countries and brought back to Japan to be memorialized. We contend that the media narratives on the journey back home of these debris items represents a valuable example to assess how affect emerges and is localized in space. We do so by drawing on geographical theories of space and affect, as we analyse how media narratives follow three broadly defined movements: (i) the displacement of the object, its disappearance from home on March 11, 2011; (ii) the discovery of the object years after, on the other side of the Pacific; (iii) the return home for the purpose of memorialization.     

Heritage space,multiple temporalities,and the reproduction of Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Village

This paper investigates the everyday experiences of long-term residents during the urban heritage revitalization process of Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Village (GOCV) as China's first overseas Chinese village. Drawing upon insights from the recent theories of multiple temporalities, this paper argues that the everyday sensory experiences of long-term residents during the urban heritage revitalization process can be understood through three interconnected temporal modes (past, present, and future). These modes reflect the sociopolitical context of different periods and influence the everyday rhythms and practices of community residents. Specifically, regarding the past, patriotic fervor, a shared identity, and the experience of living collectively have created a “happy home for returned overseas Chinese”. In terms of the present, the market-oriented reform and commodification of housing has had a profound impact on the built forms and meaning systems of the neighborhood, leading to long-term residents' nostalgia for the past and resistance to present changes in the everyday rhythms. Lastly, based on an envisioned future, long-term residents carry out specific preservation practices to maintain and enhance their place identity. This article explores the approaches to enrich the urban heritage research by illuminating the importance of temporality for understanding the spatial (re)production of living urban heritage.     

The time is out of joint: Atmosphere and hauntology at Bodiam Castle

Drawing on recent work in emotional and cultural geography, the author brings Derrida's concept of hauntology into communication with thinking about atmospheres. The research deployed a mixed-method approach including audio documentation, observation, focus groups and interviews to look at the use of spectrality in the making of atmospheres associated with A Knight's Peril, an interactive game played at Bodiam Castle in the South East of England. The paper argues that the figure of the ghost is a useful heuristic towards understanding how designers conjure and exploit the emotional and affective power of atmospheres. At Bodiam, these techniques are deployed in an attempt to facilitate new understandings of the past.