| Description |
Anthropological perspectives on intangible cultural heritage have shifted significantly over the past few decades. Whereas traditions were formerly regarded as objective facts, the postmodern movement in general, and challenges to the very notion of traditions (e.g., Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983, Handler and Linnekin 1984) led many anthropologists to suspect that traditions were no more than subjective notions. Allied with this new way of thinking, greater recognition of human agency in social life prompted many to forgo the view that individuals were culturally determined, or so passive as to repeat unthinkingly what had been done in the past (Giddens 1976). These intellectual developments energized many anthropologists to examine how, by whom, where, why, and under what circumstances traditions were claimed. |
