Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

This study examines the role of popular media in the preservation and development of Scottish heritages sites. Film tourism has become a transnational, lucrative phenomenon, in which tourists travel to places that are featured in film- and television productions (Beeton, 2016). The popularity and lucrativeness of this touristic endeavor is not lost within Scottish heritage industries; Scotland is home to many heritage sites that are increasingly “mediatized” and commodified. Prior research shows film and tourism are crucial in reconfiguring spatial identities and local heritage, which has social and cultural consequences regarding the -possibly detrimental- “film touristic gaze” that is subsequently shaped and enforced onto places and local communities (Urry, 2002). The current research addresses the role of film tourism in shaping local heritage through the perspective of Scottish heritage workers and cultural policies. Through a multi-method approach, entailing on-site analysis of three Scottish mediatized heritage sites, discourse analysis of policy documents regarding these sites, and additional interviews with heritage workers, it is examined what significance fiction holds in shaping local heritage, and what the rationale behind this process is, as articulated by Scottish heritage policies and workers. This research takes Scottish heritage sites as a point of negotiation (Smith, 2006) where local heritage narratives are shaped by several actors, who answer to particular demands, with different motivations and through different practices. Consequently, this study critically examines the cultural implications of film tourism in shaping Scottish local heritage, and the power dynamics that are involved within this configuration of place.