Refugees as Cultural Brokers on YouTube

Abstract

In this article, we examine how the audiovisual productions of the Partage de Cultures project complement and enrich the intangible cultural heritage of a country by renewing the process of construction and transmission of heritage knowledge. Based on the analysis of a corpus composed of 20 semi-structured interviews and observation notes, we show that the testimony of refugees on YouTube brings out a form of peer-to-peer mediation, audiovisual and digital, capable of enriching the intangible cultural heritage. We thus make visible a new form of engagement in heritage activity, centered on the participation of ordinary people. In doing so, the device created also contributes to the integration of refugees in society.

Keywords

• refugees
• intangible cultural heritage
• mediation
• digital networks
• integration