Intangible and tangible landscapes : an anthropological perspective based on two South African case studies

Abstract

The relationship between landscape and culture, or landscape and memory, is a developing discourse in anthropological and other cross-disciplinary fields in recent years. During the late nineties, tangible and intangible aspects in culture also became more prominent in anthropological discussions. There is currently a global movement towards a unified vision of landscape, focussing on the integration of culture and nature and incorporating the conservation of the identities of people and places. Within the development industry in South Africa, the concept and realities of preserving intangible heritage are still misunderstood, with the role of memory and meaning of place largely ignored in conservation policies. Formal training as a Landscape Architect focussed the researcher on the physical and spatial aspects of landscape. Subsequent training in the anthropological field added a unique dimension to the studies of landscape. Through qualitative anthropological fieldwork methods it became possible to access its intangible aspects. These intangible values of meaning, memory, lived experience and attachment, in relation to people’s connection to locality and landscape, were then traced back to the tangible fabric of place. In this paper, the researcher will attempt to illustrate with two case studies, the complexity of interpreting intangible landscapes and its relation to the tangible fabric, specifically focussing on the role of memory.

Die verhouding tussen landskap en kultuur, of landskap en herinnering, is tans ’n ontwikkelende diskoers in antropologie en ander interdissiplinêre velde. Gedurende die negentigerjare het tasbare en ontasbare aspekte in kultuur prominent geraak in besprekings oor antropologie. Daar is tans ook ’n wêreldwye beweging na ’n meer omvattende begrip vir landskap wat kultuur én natuur inkorporeer met die bewaring van die identiteite van mense en plekke. In Suid-Afrika word die beginsels en realiteite van die bewaring van ontasbare erfenis steeds misverstaan in die ontwikkelingsbedryf. Verder word die belang van die ontasbare – herinnerings en betekenis van plek – grotendeels geïgnoreer in die formulering van huidige en toekomstige beleidstukke vir bewaring. Formele opleiding as ’n landskapargitek het die navorser laat fokus op die fisiese en ruimtelike aspekte van landskap. Daaropvolgende opleiding in die veld van antropologie het ’n bykomende aspek van die landskap ontsluit. Kwalitatiewe antropologiese veldwerkmetodes het die navorser toegang gegee tot ontasbare aspekte van die landskap. Hierdie ontasbare waardes van betekenis, herinnering, ondervinding en behoud, in verhouding tot die mens se verband met die landskap, verwys na die tasbare raamwerk van plek. In hierdie artikel poog die navorser om, met twee gevallestudies, te fokus op die rol van herinnering binne die kompleksiteit van interpretasie van die ontasbare landskap en die daaropvolgende verhouding tot die tasbare raamwerk te illustreer.