IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section B

Abstract

This paper addresses how new animism can be used to recentre nature at World Heritage Sites such as Canterbury. The animistic worldview considers that non-living objects possess a life force. Its reconceptualization as ‘new animism’ goes further by defining non-humans not as things or objects, but as persons (Harvey, 2005; Ingold, 2006), an urgent matter in an era of climate change. This study makes an original contribution to heritage literature by providing a neo-vital conceptualisation of World Heritage as produced in conversation with non-human persons, including flora, fauna, terrain, buildings and folklore. In doing so, the work highlights the potential for future ecological multivocality and intersubjective storytelling. How the heritagescape of flora, fauna, terrain, air and sky collaborates in the production of visitor experiences is a neglected area of research. Different types of conversation occur at WHS. First, we talk about nature by planning to protect species in environmental protection policies, for example by constructing “bat corridors”. Also, multiform conversations with non-human persons occur, from attunement to the air, to glances from deer and nesting kestrels, or the sensation of ancient stone underfoot. Folklore is often authored by the local community in which it takes place, coming from and pouring back into places, taking inspiration from local sites and wildlife. Strategies place people in proximity to nature, restore non-human centricity and WHS Management plans, such as Canterbury’s, can also incorporate new animism, giving a much-needed voice to non-human persons.