Prerequisits:

There are no specific prerequisites. However, prior knowledge of basic theories and research methods in ethnology, anthropology, folklore studies, cultural heritage studies, or related fields—is recommended.

Content (Syllabus outline)

1. Introduction – the tangible, the intangible, and heritage as process:

• • Basic concepts: material culture, intangible heritage, cultural property, heritage regime
  • Heritage as practice: meaning-making, valuation, curating the past
  • Critiques of the binary separation between the tangible and the intangible
  • Kirschenblatt-Gimblett: heritage as the “second life” of objects
  • Heritage as a process of selection, exclusion, and normativity

2. The tangible as bearer of the intangible:
   • The object as a semiotic medium
   • The object as an indicator of the general historical, social, and symbolic dimensions of culture
   • Objects as means of communication and as cultural “texts”
   • Emblematics, symbolic economy, and emotional attachment
   • Food, tools, clothing, architecture, and crafts as examples of embodied intangible heritage (objectification of identities)

3. Intangible heritage needs the tangible:

• • Techniques, knowledge, and materials as part of intangible heritage (e.g., pottery, bobbin lace-making, woodcarving, preparation of Christmas breads)
  • From performativity to monumentality: how the intangible becomes visible
  • International comparisons and the UNESCO Representative List pf the Intangible Heritage of Humanity
  • The Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage and its objectification
  • The role of museums, exhibitions, and interpretation centers
  • Digital heritage: digitization, archives, multimedia presentation

4. Selected chapters:

• • Food and eating practices as heritage (food as an economic, social, and cultural good and practice)
  • Domestic culture (furnishings and wall decoration as indicators of the socio-economic and socio-cultural position of the individual)
  • Clothing culture (clothing and accessories as markers of social and cultural identities, knowledge, and skills, and as carriers of symbolic meanings in ritual and everyday practices)

Readings

• Bartsch, Silke, Lysaght, Patricia. (eds.) 2017. Places of Food Production. Origin, Identity, Imagination. Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang.
• Berger, A. A. What objects mean: an introduction to material culture (2009). Left Coast Press.
• Buchli, Victor (ed.). 2002. The material culture reader. Oxford and New York: Berg.
• Brulotte, R. L. and Di Giovine, M. (ed.): Edible Identities: Food as Cultural Heritage, Oxfordshiere and New York: Routledge.
• Godina-Golija, M., Huzjan, V. in Ledinek Lozej, Š., 2021. Govorica predmetov. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU.
• Grimaldi, Piercarlo; Fassino, Gianpaolo; Porporato, Davide. 2019. Culture, Heritage, Identity and Food. A methodological Approach. Milano: Franco Agneli.
• Hahn, Hans Peter (ed.). 2015. Vom Eigensinn der Dinge: Für eine neue Perspektive auf die Welt des Materiellen. Berlin: Neofelis Verlag.
• Harrison, R., C. DeSilvey, C. Holtorf, S. Macdonald, N. Bartolini, in E. Breithoff. 2020. Heritage Futures: Comparative Approaches to Natural and Cultural Heritage Practices. V UCL Press: London, UK. (2020). UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787356009.
• Hicks, Dan | Beaudry, Mary Carolyn (ur.) The Oxford handbook of material culture studies. (2010). Oxford University Press.
• Hudales J., Visočnik, N. (ur). 2005. Dediščina v očeh znanosti. Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta, Oddelek za etnologijo in kulturno antropologijo.
• Hudales J., Visočnik, N. (ur). 2005. Dediščina v rokah stroke. Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta, Oddelek za etnologijo in kulturno antropologijo.
• Josipovič, D., Kovačič, M., Mlekuž, D., & Mlekuž, J. (2015). Venček domačih: predmeti, Slovencem sveti. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC SAZU.
• Knific, B. „Ko v nošo se odenem —“: vprašanja pripadnostnega kostumiranja s posebnim pogledom na kostumiranje narodno-zabavnih ansamblov (2008). Ljubljana: Slovensko etnološko društvo.
• Küchler, Susanne in Miller, Daniel (ur.). Clothing as material culture. (2005). Oxford, New York: Berg.
• Ledinek Lozej, Š. 2017. Local Cultural Heritage Collections from the Slovenian-Italian Border Region. V: Pinton, S., Zagato, L. (ur.): Cultural Heritage, Scenarios 2015–2017 (Sapere l’Europa, sapere d’Europa 4). Venezia: Edizioni Ca Foscari, 607–622.
• Logan, W., Nic Craith, M., in Kockel, U. (ed): A companion to Heritage Studies. Malden, Oxford and Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
• Miller, D. (2016). Materialna kultura. Ljubljana : Studia humanitatis.
• Studen, Andrej (ur.): Mimohod blaga: Materialna kultura potrošniške družbe na Slovenskem. (2019). Ljubljana : Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino, 2019.
• Terčon, N., Vidrih Perko, V. (ur.) 2017. Muzeji, dediščina in kulturna krajina = Museums, heritage and cultural landscape: Zbornik = Acta. Radovljica: Slovensko muzejsko društvo; Ljubljana: Skupnost muzejev Slovenije; Celje: ICOM Slovenija

Objectives and competences

The aim of the course is to develop a comprehensive understanding of material culture as an indicator of broader economic, social, and cultural processes, particularly in the context of contemporary anthropological, ethnological, and heritage studies. Special emphasis is placed on understanding the relationship between the material and the immaterial, as well as on the recognition that heritage is not a static collection of objects but a dynamic process of (re)evaluation, representation, and practice. Within this framework, the course also addresses the theoretical positioning of material culture in relation to the intangible aspects of heritage. It raises questions about how material objects carry, embody, co-create, and transmit intangible meanings such as identity, memory, skills, and values, and it equips students with the ability to critically analyze concrete examples and reflect on their own research approaches.

Intended learning outcomes

Students will:

1. gain insight into the relationship between tangible and intangible aspects of heritage and into contemporary theoretical approaches to material culture.
2. They will acquire the ability for critical understanding of the processes of valuation, curation, and representation of tangible heritage and its positioning within contemporary heritage regimes.
3. In addition, they will develop the competence to analyze and interpret material objects as carriers of intangible meanings and to reflect on their own research approaches in academic writing

Learning and teaching methods:

Types of learning/teaching:

• Frontal teaching
• Work in smaller groups or pair work
• Independent students work
• e-learning

Teaching methods:

• Explanation
• Conversation/discussion/debate
• Work with texts
• Case studies
• Different presentation
• Field work (e.g. company visits)
• Inviting guests from companies

Assessment

Long written assignment (60 %), presentation (20 %), final examination (written/oral) (20 %).

Lecturer’s references

• Ledinek Lozej, Š.: Collaborative inventory: a participatory approach to cultural heritage collections. V: NARED, Janez (ur.), BOLE, David (ur.). Participatory research and planning in practice, (The urban book series, ISSN 2365-757X). Cham (Switzerland): Springer Open. cop. 2020, pp. 121-131, doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-28014-7_8.
• Godina-Golija, M., Ledinek Lozej, Š.: Pomen in cilji projektov ohranjanja dediščine prehrane: Register nesnovne kulturne dediščine, Etnofolk in AlpFoodway [The Importance and Objectives of Projects Aimed at Safeguarding Food Heritage: Register of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Etnofolk and AlpFoodway]. Etnolog, 28, 2018, pp. 85–103.
• Ledinek Lozej, Š., Razpotnik Visković, N.: Branding, labelling and certification: Geographical and anthropological insights. Acta geographica Slovenica, 62/2, 2022, pp. 51-61. https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/ags/issue/view/873/398, doi:  10.3986/AGS.11265