Memorializing Authentic Heritage: An Examination of the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), yearly evaluates nominations for inclusion on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. While this program has been commended for protecting cultural practices that might otherwise be marginalized by majority communities, some have critiqued it for promoting a definition of culture that is grounded in problematic understandings of tradition and authenticity. In this thesis, I draw on theories from rhetorical genre studies, rhetorics of display, and public memorialization to identify the definition of heritage that UNESCO promotes through the Representative List. To do this, I examine the nomination process as a whole, in addition to the nomination forms, the photograph submissions, and the film submissions of the original (unsuccessful) and revised (successful) applications for two nominated cultural practices: the Fiesta of the Patios of Cordova (Spain) and Classical Horsemanship and the High School of the Spanish Riding School Vienna (Austria). From my analysis, I suggest that the UNESCO Representative List nomination process requires countries to align their cultural practices with a conception of heritage that prioritizes authenticity in order for those practices to be included on the List.