Taking up space

Physical and affective geographies of intangible cultural heritage

Frears, Lucy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3654-7246 and Hodsdon, Laura ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0817-4852 (2025) Taking up space. In: Revoicing Intangible Cultural Heritage: Perspectives from the margins of Europe. Critical Heritages of Europe . Routledge, Oxford, New York, pp. 145-158. ISBN 978-1-032-59729-4

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Abstract / Summary

Cornwall, in the far southwest of Great Britain, is only seven miles wide at its narrowest point. Surrounded on three sides by the sea, it has among the lowest permanent population densities of the UK (Office for National Statistics 2021), and much of the region is served by a single main road. Historically, its main industries were fishing and mining; today, despite having towns and a city, Cornwall is marketed to tourists with a romanticised vision of its rural and coastal remoteness. Traditional industries would likely have left the landscape empty: with miners underground (though with 'balmaidens' smashing stones above ground) and fishermen at sea, there must have been a spaciousness, a lack of visible 'busy-ness' (Tuan [1977] 2008: 61). Yet the number of visitors in peak season clashes with the marketed image of quiet rurality that draws to some extent on this historic imaginary. Small fishing villages frequented by tourists easily become blocked by traffic. A boom in holiday rentals, plus an increase in new permanent and temporary residents, has resulted in many local people priced out of their town centres, previously the locus of the community (Duignan 2019). As Tuan observes, 'ample space is not always experienced as spaciousness' ([1977] 2008: 51), and 'for everyone a point is reached when the feeling of spaciousness yields to its opposite-crowding' (Tuan [1977] 2008: 59). The issue of space, clearly, figures prominently in the region's social dynamics. In the context of its intangible cultural heritage (ICH), crowds have traditionally been essential for the liveliness of annual gatherings: the place to meet with extended family, to cook and have an open house, to meet new people, perhaps future partners (Frears 2010). In the present day, too, cultural events are widely acknowledged to be an opportunity to build community (e.g. Duffy & Mair 2014; Arcodia &Whitford 2006) to the extent that they are the annual focal point for many local people. But of course, alongside increased tourism and other demographic changes, it is not only the local community celebrating, as may have been traditionally the case. Known and unknown participants must share space and see each other close-up. Just as there are tensions between insiders and outsiders in Cornwall as a whole, these events offer 'an arena where negotiation is forced upon us' (Massey 2007: 154). In this chapter, we consider the way space functions at two ICH events in Cornwall: both as microcosm of, and reaction to, the spatial relations that are enacted and negotiated within Cornwall's wider socio-cultural landscape.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Intangible cultural heritage, ICH, insider, outside, incomer, Cornwall, community, Padstow May Day, 'Oss, Penzance, Golowan, Mazey Day, cultural geography, event, tradition, tourism, gentrification, belonging,
ISBN:	978-1-032-59729-4
Subjects:	History, Geography & Environment > Cornish Studies History, Geography & Environment History, Geography & Environment > Heritage Studies Performing Arts Research
Department:	Academy of Innovation and Research
Related URLs:	Publisher
Depositing User:	Lucy Frears
Date Deposited:	19 Aug 2025 09:27
Last Modified:	19 Aug 2025 09:27
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/6149

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