Framing A House, Photography and the Performance of Heritage
Using data from qualitative research on vernacular housing, this paper discusses the role of photography in the heritage restoration of an outport community in Newfoundland. An assessment of the instrumental role usually played by photography in ethnographic and material culture research is made in...
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Association Canadienne d’Ethnologie et de Folklore
1995
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fterudit:oai:erudit.org:1087492ar 2023-05-15T17:22:46+02:00 Framing A House, Photography and the Performance of Heritage Rusted, Brian 1995 http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1087492ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1087492ar en eng Association Canadienne d’Ethnologie et de Folklore Érudit Ethnologies vol. 17 no. 2 (1995) http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1087492ar doi:10.7202/1087492ar Tous droits réservés © Ethnologies, Université Laval, 1995 text 1995 fterudit https://doi.org/10.7202/1087492ar 2022-04-16T23:12:23Z Using data from qualitative research on vernacular housing, this paper discusses the role of photography in the heritage restoration of an outport community in Newfoundland. An assessment of the instrumental role usually played by photography in ethnographic and material culture research is made in light of the vernacular uses of photography. The socially coded and symbolic character of this built environment signals distinct taste and class cultures which are performed in narrative and material media. Photography contributes to the local performance of the past and the sign value of the built environment: it legitimates the invention of heritage and at the same time offers a means for local residents to contest dominant codings of their houses. In developing this case study, the role of photography will be considered from a variety of perspectives: as a research tool for the ethnography of communication; as a resource that offers access to categories of local knowledge; as a communicational practice that provides a corpus of texts for oppositional readings; and as a problematic representational form which raises questions about the medium in relation to research. Cet article fait l’analyse de la photographie en tant que ressourcedocumentaire dans le cadre d’un projet de restauration patrimoniale à Terre-Neuve. L’usage vernaculaire de la photographie nous aide à mieux comprendrele rôle significatif que joue la photographie au sein de l’ethnographie et dans lesrecherches sur la culture matérielle. Nous pouvons décoder la symbolique del’environnement architectural d’un village, par exemple, en regardant de près lafaçon dont certaines distinctions sociales et culturelles se transmettentnarrativement. La photographie fait ainsi partie de la «théâtralisation» du passé,de l’environnement bâti: elle légitime l’«invention du patrimoine» tout enpermettant aux habitants de contester l’idéologie dominante et son interprétationde leurs propres maisons. Text Newfoundland Terre-Neuve Érudit.org (Université Montréal) Ethnologies 17 2 139 |
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Érudit.org (Université Montréal) |
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English |
description |
Using data from qualitative research on vernacular housing, this paper discusses the role of photography in the heritage restoration of an outport community in Newfoundland. An assessment of the instrumental role usually played by photography in ethnographic and material culture research is made in light of the vernacular uses of photography. The socially coded and symbolic character of this built environment signals distinct taste and class cultures which are performed in narrative and material media. Photography contributes to the local performance of the past and the sign value of the built environment: it legitimates the invention of heritage and at the same time offers a means for local residents to contest dominant codings of their houses. In developing this case study, the role of photography will be considered from a variety of perspectives: as a research tool for the ethnography of communication; as a resource that offers access to categories of local knowledge; as a communicational practice that provides a corpus of texts for oppositional readings; and as a problematic representational form which raises questions about the medium in relation to research. Cet article fait l’analyse de la photographie en tant que ressourcedocumentaire dans le cadre d’un projet de restauration patrimoniale à Terre-Neuve. L’usage vernaculaire de la photographie nous aide à mieux comprendrele rôle significatif que joue la photographie au sein de l’ethnographie et dans lesrecherches sur la culture matérielle. Nous pouvons décoder la symbolique del’environnement architectural d’un village, par exemple, en regardant de près lafaçon dont certaines distinctions sociales et culturelles se transmettentnarrativement. La photographie fait ainsi partie de la «théâtralisation» du passé,de l’environnement bâti: elle légitime l’«invention du patrimoine» tout enpermettant aux habitants de contester l’idéologie dominante et son interprétationde leurs propres maisons. |
format |
Text |
author |
Rusted, Brian |
spellingShingle |
Rusted, Brian Framing A House, Photography and the Performance of Heritage |
author_facet |
Rusted, Brian |
author_sort |
Rusted, Brian |
title |
Framing A House, Photography and the Performance of Heritage |
title_short |
Framing A House, Photography and the Performance of Heritage |
title_full |
Framing A House, Photography and the Performance of Heritage |
title_fullStr |
Framing A House, Photography and the Performance of Heritage |
title_full_unstemmed |
Framing A House, Photography and the Performance of Heritage |
title_sort |
framing a house, photography and the performance of heritage |
publisher |
Association Canadienne d’Ethnologie et de Folklore |
publishDate |
1995 |
url |
http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1087492ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1087492ar |
genre |
Newfoundland Terre-Neuve |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland Terre-Neuve |
op_relation |
Ethnologies vol. 17 no. 2 (1995) http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1087492ar doi:10.7202/1087492ar |
op_rights |
Tous droits réservés © Ethnologies, Université Laval, 1995 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7202/1087492ar |
container_title |
Ethnologies |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
139 |
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1766109610036428800 |