
AbstractThe preservationist paradigm of heritage and the contemporary heritage discourse can best be understood as firmly situated in a specific historical and cultural context of European (and by extension global) civilization of the past few centuries. Contemporary heritage policies and practices are a result of a particular historical trajectory that will keep evolving in the future, and future heritage may not resemble past and present heritage at all. In this paper, I reflect on what the concept of cultural heritage, the conservation ethos, and heritage-related artifacts and technologies are able to reveal about our own time. Given the current significance of heritage, the obsession in our age with preservation, and the inevitable historical transitoriness of both, the question emerges whether it would be worth to try to preserve the heritage of heritage for the future. Rather than remembering the past, future generations may want to remember remembering the past.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 39 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
