Let it all fall down:Delighting in anti-heroes, alternative heritage and ruination

Patterson, Anthony (2018) Let it all fall down:Delighting in anti-heroes, alternative heritage and ruination. In: Cultural Heritage. Routledge. ISBN 9781138092822

Abstract

Against a backdrop where protectors of cultural heritage are naturally motivated by the watchwords of preservation and conservation, it is hardly surprising that the cheerfully cultivated squalor of alternative heritage remains so little examined. Via a literary-inspired method, this chapter makes the case for the inherent goodness of ruination. I begin by briefly contemplating the peculiar, even perverse, appeal of decaying and neglected places. I also suggest that there is a greater audience for the reification of such desires than is presently acknowledged. I contend that such consumers have three qualities in common: an interest in retroscendence, impoverished enrichment and catharsis. I conclude with a plea that heritage defenders, instead of rushing to impose preservation orders, to dip all in amber, should on occasion simply allow the patina of decrepitation and brokenness to do its worst, or best, as the case may be.