the performativity and dynamics of intangible cultural heritage

� central structural and functional elements,
� difference and otherness,
� inter-cultural learning.
The human body as medium
In contrast to architectural monuments, which are easily identified and protected, the forms of intangible cultural
heritage are much more difficult to pick out, to convey and to conserve. Whereas the architectural oeuvres of
world cultural heritage are fashioned from relatively durable material, the forms of intangible cultural heritage are
subject to historic and cultural change to a far higher degree. While architecture produces material cultural
objects, the human body is the medium of the forms and figurations of intangible cultural heritage. That is the
case in 1. oral traditions and modes of expression, including language; 2. the performing arts; 3. social practices,
rituals and celebrations; 4. naturist practices; 5. the skills and knowledge of traditional arts and crafts, among
others. If we wish to grasp the specific character of intangible cultural heritage, we need above all to reflect and
acknowledge the fundamental role which the human body plays as its carrier.
A number of consequences ensue from the fact that the human body is the medium of intangible cultural heritage.
Its bodily practices are determined by the passage of time and the temporality of the human body. They depend
on the dynamics of time and space. Unlike cultural monuments, the practices of intangible cultural heritage are
not fixed. They are subject to processes of transformation linked to social change and exchange. Interlaced with
the dynamics of life, they are characterised by their process-like nature and more susceptible to the pull of
homogenising tendencies.
As the practices of intangible cultural heritage are performances and mises-en-scènes of the body, they tend to
have greater social weight than mere discourses. For with their bodily presence, the cultural actors invest the
community with "something extra" in addition to the spoken word. This "something extra" is rooted in the
materiality of the body and man's very existence which is based upon it, with its concomitant bodily presence and
vulnerability. Through the staging of practices of intangible cultural heritage, cultural communalities are produced,
and this production process is not only linguistic and communicative, but also bodily and material. People stage
themselves and their relations, and in so doing produce culture. In staging and performing intangible cultural
practices, they bring forth cultural orders which express, among other things, power relations between the
members of various social strata, between generations and between the sexes. By virtue of being performed and
expressed in bodily arrangements, the practices of intangible cultural heritage take on the appearance of being
"natural" and universally accepted. By inviting us to "join in and play along", they facilitate the unquestioning
acceptance of the cultural orders which show themselves in them. Whoever declines the invitation to "join in an
THE PERFORMATIVITY AND DYNAMICS OF INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE 2/14