Authenticity lost? The significance of cultural villages in the conservation of heritage in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Based on a(n) (interrupted) period of 15 years of fieldwork, this study explores the question whether cultural villages in South Africa are to be considered an effective way to conserve a particular cultural heritage in an authentic way. In order to answer this question, three notions of authenticity are juxtaposed with three types of cultural villages. The outcomes reveal a nuanced answer that suggests that some types of cultural villages do contribute to the conservation of an authentic cultural heritage, but not all. The research also shows how cultural heritage tourism is often haunted and influenced by old colonial stereotypes and exoticism.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural villages
• cultural heritage
• authenticity
• commoditisation
• exoticism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Chris Boonzaaier (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Since 1997, he is programme manager of a three-year degree course in Heritage and Cultural Tourism. His main interest is in Community-based Tourism. His latest publications include the following: Community perceptions of tourism in the Tshivhase area of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Anthropology Southern Africa. Vol. 35(3&4) (2012) (with JHF Grobler); Juxtaposing a cultural reading of landscape with institutional boundaries: the case of Masebe Nature Reserve, South Africa. Landscape Research, 7 (2016) (with Harry Wels).

Harry Wels (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor in the Department of Culture, Organisation and Management at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Publication Manager at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, both in the Netherlands; and Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He has published extensively on processes of organisational co-operation and private wildlife conservation in relation to transfrontier conservation initiatives in southern Africa. Lately his research interest is on human–animal relations in private wildlife conservation in southern Africa.

ORCID

Chris Boonzaaier http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8894-7295

Notes

1. As we do not argue for a comparison of cultural villages across other parts of the world, we stay close to the literature on the phenomenan of cultural villages in South Africa and to our case studies.

2. http://www.southafrica.net/za/en/articles/entry/article southafrica.net basotho cultural village, accessed 31/03/2014, our emphasis.

3. And should for that reason not be confused with other forms of tourism in South Africa such as ‘township tourism’ (Booyens, 2010), which is about a form of tourism to places that were never specifically created or meant for tourism purposes.

4. On average seven actors per village, which included women, usually took part in focus group discussions. On average, these discussions lasted for about 90 minutes.

5. Although the research was conducted over a period of 15 years, not all villages were established at the same time. Hence, some villages were visited more than others. Lesedi was visited only twice, while Thomo village was visited at least six times. Tsonga Kraal, which was established in the mid-1970s, and which was part of the ongoing research of one of the authors, was visited more than 30 times.