Safeguarding Ayrshire’s Coalmining Past: Heritage, Nostalgia and Social Memory
Scotland’s industrial past is central to its national narrative, and heritage discourse has long focused on engineering and technical achievements. However, this article considers another facet of industrial heritage, one which is local, engages with deindustrialisation and, initiated from the grass...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses universitaires de Rennes
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Revue LISA |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/11191 |
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| author | Laurence Gourievidis |
| author_facet | Laurence Gourievidis |
| author_sort | Laurence Gourievidis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Scotland’s industrial past is central to its national narrative, and heritage discourse has long focused on engineering and technical achievements. However, this article considers another facet of industrial heritage, one which is local, engages with deindustrialisation and, initiated from the grassroots, projects the vision of working-class communities. Focusing on the example of the Barony colliery in East Ayrshire, a former deep mine in the south west of Scotland, it explores the initiative undertaken by a local volunteer group to restore and interpret the site. This article argues that, whilst this project brings to light the multi-functional uses of heritage as a resource, it also underlines the crucial function of social memory in heritage work, particularly in districts with high levels of socio-economic deprivation twinned with a degraded self-image. Against a problematic present and future, the fostering of a sense of past and place, tinted with nostalgia, yet confronting painful and uncomfortable aspects of the past with their long-term consequences, serves healing and regenerative purposes, instilling a sense of pride and dignity in communities, and ultimately striving to shore up their self-esteem. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b49d62931f1a43839a6d79c5d04a825b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1762-6153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Rennes |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue LISA |
| spelling | doaj-art-b49d62931f1a43839a6d79c5d04a825b2025-01-06T09:03:01ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532019-11-011710.4000/lisa.11191Safeguarding Ayrshire’s Coalmining Past: Heritage, Nostalgia and Social MemoryLaurence GourievidisScotland’s industrial past is central to its national narrative, and heritage discourse has long focused on engineering and technical achievements. However, this article considers another facet of industrial heritage, one which is local, engages with deindustrialisation and, initiated from the grassroots, projects the vision of working-class communities. Focusing on the example of the Barony colliery in East Ayrshire, a former deep mine in the south west of Scotland, it explores the initiative undertaken by a local volunteer group to restore and interpret the site. This article argues that, whilst this project brings to light the multi-functional uses of heritage as a resource, it also underlines the crucial function of social memory in heritage work, particularly in districts with high levels of socio-economic deprivation twinned with a degraded self-image. Against a problematic present and future, the fostering of a sense of past and place, tinted with nostalgia, yet confronting painful and uncomfortable aspects of the past with their long-term consequences, serves healing and regenerative purposes, instilling a sense of pride and dignity in communities, and ultimately striving to shore up their self-esteem.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/11191Scotlandmemorynostalgiaindustrial heritagemining |
| spellingShingle | Laurence Gourievidis Safeguarding Ayrshire’s Coalmining Past: Heritage, Nostalgia and Social Memory Revue LISA Scotland memory nostalgia industrial heritage mining |
| title | Safeguarding Ayrshire’s Coalmining Past: Heritage, Nostalgia and Social Memory |
| title_full | Safeguarding Ayrshire’s Coalmining Past: Heritage, Nostalgia and Social Memory |
| title_fullStr | Safeguarding Ayrshire’s Coalmining Past: Heritage, Nostalgia and Social Memory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Safeguarding Ayrshire’s Coalmining Past: Heritage, Nostalgia and Social Memory |
| title_short | Safeguarding Ayrshire’s Coalmining Past: Heritage, Nostalgia and Social Memory |
| title_sort | safeguarding ayrshire s coalmining past heritage nostalgia and social memory |
| topic | Scotland memory nostalgia industrial heritage mining |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/11191 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT laurencegourievidis safeguardingayrshirescoalminingpastheritagenostalgiaandsocialmemory |