Memory and heritage in the intercultural perspective of globalized tourism

Abstract

A reflection is presented on the changes that can be observed in recent decades in relation to the concept of memory, demonstrating through examples how contemporary society is concerned with the construction of memories of a diverse nature and distinct from those of the past, in a reflection that is inserted in the proposal to discuss the processes of its constitution today. The question we pose about creation is what we can call "memory of the future," that is, the inheritance that we consider relevant and shareable with generations to come. It is this that we must confront, observing the changes in perspective to understand the ideals and even ideological framework within which these memories are selected and organized, to be shared by audiences within their own increasingly globalized dimensions. This is a proposal for exploratory and cartographic research, based on some experiences of museums and other spaces dedicated to memory and related to mass tourism. To address the theme, a historical procedure was chosen, from which can be witnessed aspects related to the social and narrative elements and narrative issues of interest of Memory. An overview is offered of the cultural construction of the historical relationship between an "ideal" center, represented by the European model and its traditions of memory, and the "colonized" territories that have been too often defined as "peripheral". We seek to understand the effects of the exportation of European ideals of memory by observing their effects on these "peripheral" territories. It is observed, in partial conclusion, that alongside already institutionalized heritage, new places of memory are being created, in response to an expectation of globalized tourism, which require language dictated by the cultural industry.