La notion de patrimoine selon l’unesco : discours et glissements catégoriels des conventions (1972, 2003)

Abstract

Since the implementation of the World Heritage Convention (1972), the notion of “heritage” according to UNESCO has given rise to conceptual tensions within the international community, while at the same time underlining the deep interest of the actors in it (experts, inhabitants, institutions). Moreover, we observe a normative effervescence (charters, conventions, resolutions) around this notion which questions both the discursive genesis of the word “heritage” and the categorical shifts from one convention to another (1972, 2003) based on polymorphous examples of world heritage inscribed in Southern countries (Marrakech in Morocco, Angkor in Cambodia). Thus, the article examines the semantic construction of the form "heritage" in the normative discourse of the World Heritage Convention (1972) and how this standardized approach contributed to the division and freezing of this notion into ambivalent categories (tangible, intangible, natural). These freezes, shifts and categorical layers give to heritage communities a central role in the inscription process.

Keywords

• Cultural Heritage
• Heritage Category
• Normative Discourse
• Unesco Convention.