世界遺産と文化保存のパラドックス : ラオスのユネスコ世界遺産、ルアンパバーンとワット・プーの事例から
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概要
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The movement for the protection of World Heritage Sites, promoted by UNESCO, has been spreading throughout the world. The ideal of the World Heritage Convention is to protect natural and cultural heritage sites with "outstanding universal value" against damage and destruction, regarding them as humankind's common heritage. That means that a nation, once having signed the Convention, must accept UNESCO's intervention in the protection of its heritage. Lao PDR, which ratified the Convention in 1987, has two World Heritage Sites: the Town of Luang Prabang and the Vat Phou Temple Complex in the Champasak Cultural Landscape. This paper examines the case of Laos in order to demonstrate some of the problems underlying the international movement of heritage conservation, widely considered to be one of the great ideals of humanity. The Town of Luang Prabang, inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1995, was the capital of the Lan Xang Kingdom from the 14^<th> to the 16^<th> century. The present city is a fusion of different architectural styles: it has many Buddhist temples of a distinctive Lao style, while its secular buildings represent a hybrid of Chinese, Vietnamese and French styles. The World Heritage committee noticed the high degree of authenticity of its overall townscape and urban fabric. The heritage site of Vat Phou Champasak, inscribed on the list in 2001, contains a Khmer temple (Vat Phou), the remains of an ancient city, and the landscape that surrounds them. Vat Phou was constructed as a Hindu temple by the Khmer, but after the fall of their empire it became a place of Buddhist worship for locals. Analyzing publications on these two heritage sites, we find "authenticity" to be one of the major criteria for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Globalization and homogenization are considered the major threats to the sites, so UNESCO refuses any alterations to them. The locals, who repair temples and secular buildings with modern, imported materials and non-traditional techniques, are accused of lacking knowledge, of being unaware of the value and uniqueness of their heritage. UNESCO promotes the development of tourism, regarding it the best means of both boosting the local economy and preserving the cultural treasures, but on the condition that tourism is carefully managed to avoid critical stress on both the environment and the historical cultural resources. UNESCO World Heritage projects may be effective in preserving cultural heritage sites that would be lost if no measures were taken. On that point, they apparently contribute to the preservation of the cultural diversity of humanity. However, UNESCO's notion of culture is an essentialist one, a notion that has been criticized by James Clifford and Edward W. Said. Prohibiting locals from improving production at will, so as to carry out conservation works consistent with values and criteria brought from the outside, would hinder their cultural creativity. The evaluation and preservation of heritage sites based on criteria that are applied to all the heritage sites in the would spoil the cultural vitality fostered by each community, and would consequently be counterproductive for the protection of cultural diversity.
- 2008-06-30
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関連論文
- 世界遺産と文化保存のパラドックス : ラオスのユネスコ世界遺産、ルアンパバーンとワット・プーの事例から
- 宮本勝編, 『を処理する』, 東京, 雄山閣, 2003年8月, 257頁, 2,800円(+税)