What is Heritage??

In the book The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History, David Lowenthal aims to distinguish the difference between history and heritage by looking more in depth to the meanings of the two things by giving examples of all sorts to help the reader realize that although the two are linked and are routes into the past, they are “habitually confused with each other” (X.) Before reading this I would have assumed that heritage and history were of the same category and that it was a compilation of past events and facts when come to find out heritage is a compilation of all sorts of things that celebrate and represent the past whether it be memories, cultural traditions, homes, people, artifacts, etc. Also it is composed of less concrete things such as kinship, faith, language, words, feelings etc. In reality it is a very difficult word to define. When looking up a quick definition of the meaning of heritage online I encountered the same varying definition in Lowenthal’s book.

In one of the chapters Lowenthal focuses on one’s personal relationship with heritage. This chapter made me question what I thought my heritage IS or what I know about it. I was baffled to realize that as far as knowing my ancestors further back from my grandparents I know very little other than names. I do not know where they lived, what their religion was, what they did for a living, what items may have been important to them etc. I am curious now to know the answers to these questions because maybe some of it is of some significance to me as well as to the world? Maybe my great grandfather was a soldier in World War I and saved a lot of people or was the owner of a popular business during his time. I have no idea!

It is evident from the reading as well as from my own experiences that heritage is being lost. People know less of their own past and some of those who even know these details do not realize the meaning and neglect to celebrate such great things. One’s knowledge about wood carving could be the result of his/her great-great-great someone and never know that this skill has actually been passed down from generation to generation.