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The aim of this study is to examine the use of famous historical or fictional persons in place branding. It seeks to analyze the images of places that are produced, and the representations of persons that are used in branding practices. Largely this use is located within a tourist discourse, begging the question how tourists take part in the shaping of these cities. In sum, the study aims to examine constructions of the past and the present, as well as representations of gender. The main question is which parts of the history of a city are described and which sites are highlighted. Four cases studies are presented. First, the uses of the heritage connected with author Selma Lagerlöf in and around Sunne are examined, in particular her former residence, Mårbacka, now musealized. Second, Uppsala's and Småland's uses of the Carl Linnaeus heritage are surveyed. Third, the uses of inventor Johan Petter Johansson in Enköping are studied, and fourth the tourist and heritage practices around fictional police detective Kurt Wallander in Ystad are examined. Taken at face value, these examples differ from each other in many ways. The aim of the dissertation is to track these differences, but also the likenesses in practices, meaning production and visualizations. In sum, the aim of this dissertation is to examine how the productions of meaning are influenced through the use of these individuals. How do visitors influence the production on these heritage sites? Is there room for change in descriptions of persons and places? How are ideas of authenticity produced when places are viewed through one individual? What ideas of gender and masculinity are produced?

This paper deals with an object donated by a group of members of the public to the Royal Armoury in Stockholm, Sweden. The donators claimed to own a horse bit that had been used by King Gustav II Adolf's mount in the battle of Lützen, where the King was killed. The bit was a gift to the donators' ancestor, the farmer and politician Petter Jönsson, from the King of Sweden, Oscar I, in the 1850's. In this paper, the donated bit is examined and found unlikely to be the bit used at Lützen. The examination also revealed that the bit now worn by the horse in its display is a prop, included in the group of objects in the 19th century, and that the original bit probably was lost in a fire in 1648. The examination also raises questions on why this bit was considered a valuable gift, what consequences the gift transaction of the bit had for giver and reviever. It ends with a discussion about the donated bit and the bit in the display, and their roles at the museum in the future.

Although Georgia has experienced dramatic increases in the number of visitors over the past decade Swedish travellers are absent in the arrival statistics. Visitors from Eastern Europeans account for the majority of the increase in arrivals. This thesis attempts to understand what is missing in order for Swedish tourists to discover Georgia as a destination. This is done by interviewing Swedish tour operators and surveying Swedish visitors to Georgia. The results are analyzed in the framework of Leiper’s theory of destination competitiveness. A SWOT analysis is also used to structure the analysis, and the thesis suggests some benchmark measures that could be used to implement a systematic effort to improve the destination. The thesis concludes that Georgia indeed has a strong attractiveness on Swedish tourists, but that the main problems are connected with low awareness and lack of convenient transportation options. It is argued that these problems can be solved through improved marketing and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the thesis highlights the need for Georgian destination managers to make choices today in order to shape the image of the country in the future. Georgia has a challenge to strengthen the authenticity that many travellers associate with the country, but is in a position to modernize by preserving traditions. Finally, it is argued that the results from this study are generalizable to include preferences of travellers from Western Europe in general, and therefore the study points to some significant opportunities available to Georgia.

During the early decades of the 20th century, a public and governmental concentration on authentic Canadian culture included the languages and cultural practices of Indigenous peoples. The position of Indigenous peoples as ‘original’ to the land was conflated as evidence that their cultures were authentic, and as such, uniquely ‘Canadian’. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, a small group of children from the Osoyoos Indian Band along with their Irish immigrant teacher produced a series of short dramatic plays based on traditional Okanagan stories. This thesis examines how the production, circulation, and consumption of these Okanagan-based plays by children came to be seen as a manifestation of early Canadian drama that was arguably a part of the foundation of an emerging national identity.

This thesis examines the use and promotion of shamanic themes in contemporary Canadian Inuit art, being the principle venue in which Inuit identity is presented to non-Inuit in Canada and internationally. The image of Inuit identity promoted through the arts since the mid-twentieth century is arguably the product of non-Inuit state authorities, but Inuit artists themselves are increasingly asserting their voice in their arts and crafts, thereby challenging the image of Inuit identity to non-Inuit. This project first problematizes the history of contemporary Inuit art, where the construction of Inuit identity was heavily prescribed, and then turns to the shifts occurring in Inuit art to highlight the process of identity construction and the agency of Inuit within it. In the process, this project challenges the static conceptualization of minority identities in diverse societies by both state authorities and majority populations. This dissertation contends that Inuit art and identity are fluid concepts and there must be an emphasis made to permit for their fluidity, to avoid affirming a static minority identity in a diverse society, whether in the public or state forums. Consequently, the effort to assert the authenticity of these intangible concepts is contrary to the ideals of diversity and equality promoted in Canada.

Contemporary attitudes in affluent Western societies are characterised by a growing emphasis on individual freedom. What, then, does this commitment to liberty entail for our openness to diversity; and ultimately for liberal democracy? Previous research on popular attitudes, for example by Ronald Inglehart, tends to assume that valuing freedom entails an encouragement of a plurality of life-styles. This thesis, by contrast, argues that there are several ideals of freedom in public opinion; ideals that may have opposing consequences for our permissiveness towards ways of life that differ from our own. The introductory essay in this book suggests that Isaiah Berlin’s theory of positive and negative freedom provides a fruitful analytical framework, which helps theorise and empirically nuance our picture of popular ideals of freedom. Essay I goes on to present a novel, psychological, interpretation of Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty. This essay also suggests that Berlin was critical not only of enlightened ideals of positive liberty, but also of romantic ones, which might be even more widespread today. Essay II then applies Berlin’s framework to contemporary survey data. Through confirmatory factor and regression analyses, this essay demonstrates that Berlin’s negative-positive distinction does in fact hold also in popular opinion; and that the two dimensions have rather different effects on moral and legal permissiveness. Essay III, finally, revisits a recent example of disrespect in the name of liberty: the Danish cartoon controversy. This essay develops the concept of ‘romantic liberalism’, thereby deepening our knowledge of romantic ideals of positive liberty, and their particularly disrespectful tendencies. Drawing on Isaiah Berlin, and his critique of positive liberty, the essays in this thesis together suggest that it is crucial for liberal democracy to recognise the existence of treacherous liberties: ideals that lead their supporters to ridicule, condemn, or even prohibit ways of life that differ from their own – all in the name of liberty. / The Impact of Religion

Tourism has greatly increased world wide in recent decades, especially in China. Nature-dominated Scenic and Historic Interest Areas, representative of the Chinese philosophy of the 'oneness of nature and human beings', are the most popular tourism destinations in China. Tourism impacts in these areas have been receiving the attention of heritage landscape conservation. Management actions have largely been determined with an emphasis on natural values. This thesis maintains that values relating to nature are socially and culturally constructed, and that they dynamically change through history. By investigating the social and cultural structures underpinning values related to nature, a macro-history method has been applied to explore the traditional Chinese View of nature from traditional Chinese philosophies and landscape cultures. An instrumental case study method has been applied to explore the contemporary Chinese values of nature. The relationships between traditional values and contemporary values have been identified. It was found that the traditional Chinese values still have a profound influence today, although many aspects have been distorted. Historic high culture in natural areas has been replaced by mass tourism culture and Western values. The research also found that today's values are more socially and politically contested. It has been revealed that there are deep social, cultural, economic and political roots underlying heritage conservation management actions. Changing and contested values have been interpreted from these perspectives. The values inherent in the Chinese View of nature, such as holistic philosophical perspectives, sophisticated Chinese landscape languages, and evolving living landscapes, have been identified. The contributions of these values to relevant theories of environmental philosophy, cultural landscape, national park tourism and heritage conservation have been identified by this research. The implications for multi-cultural dialogues in heritage landscape conservation have been addressed.

Cette thèse a pour but de comprendre les stratégies de construction d’authenticité et les politiques de patrimoine culturel immatériel à partir de l’étude de deux pratiques culturelles reconnues actuellement comme patrimoine culturel immatériel : le fest-noz, présente dans les villes et campagnes de la région Bretagne, en France ; et le jongo, présente au sein des villes installées dans la vallée du fleuve Paraíba do Sul, dans la région Sudeste du Brésil. La démarche comparative présentée dans cette thèse résulte d’une double étude de cas, d’une part les rapports entre le fest-noz et l’authenticité en Bretagne, et d’autre part le jongo et l’authenticité afro-brésilienne. La thèse est structurée en trois parties. La première partie s’attache à comprendre le fest-noz et les questions de l’authenticité en Bretagne ; la deuxième partie met en lumière le jongo et la quête de l’authenticité afro-brésilienne ; la troisième partie est une analyse comparative des deux pratiques mais elle est également conclusive. Dans l’écriture ethnographique, les données de terrain ont été traitées dans une perspective bourdieusiennne. Par ailleurs, l’analyse des documents institutionnels - tels que les dossiers de patrimonialisation du fest-noz et du jongo, et les documents relatifs à la législation de l’UNESCO et du PCI en France et au Brésil – fût d’une importance cruciale. En outre, les entretiens avec les responsables des politiques de sauvegarde du fest-noz et du jongo et des politiques culturelles dans le domaine du PCI au Brésil et en France, m’ont permis d’affiner et de complexifier l’analyse des documents institutionnels. Cette thèse repose encore sur des données historiques contextuelles qui ont contribué à une meilleure compréhension des pratiques culturelles en question. / This thesis aims to understand the strategies (used in the representation of authenticity and the policies of intangible cultural heritage, based on the study of two cultural practices currently recognized as instances of intangible cultural heritage: fest-noz, present in the cities and countryside of Brittany, France; and jongo, present in the cities of the Paraíba do Sul river valley, located in the southeast region of Brazil. The comparative approach results from a double case study; on the one hand, the relations between fest-noz and authenticity in Brittany, and on the other hand, jongo and Afro-Brazilian authenticity. The thesis addresses three principle questions. First of all, an effort to understand fest-noz and how it shapes authenticity in Brittany; secondly, how jongo impacts the quest for Afro-Brazilian authenticity; and finally, a comparative analysis into both practices and the conclusions drawn from this approach. The field data collected from ethnographic writing archives were treated from a Bourdieu perspective. In addition, the analysis of institutional documents, including the heritage files of both fest-noz and jongo, and the documents relating to UNESCO and ICP legislation in France and Brazil, was of crucial importance. Furthermore, interviews with policy makers for the safeguarding of fest-noz and jongo and for cultural policies in the field of ICH in Brazil and France enabled a more nuanced elaboration of institutional documents. This thesis relies on contextual historical data that has contributed to a better understanding of the cultural practices in question.

Cette thèse étudie la notion de sceau authentique au Moyen Âge. Elle aspire à proposer une définition du sceau à travers la lecture des lois et commentaires médiévaux. Ce travail nous permet de considérer qu’un acte scellé d’un sceau authentique était avant toute autre chose un instrument au service du pouvoir et des justiciables. Pour être reconnu comme authentique, le sceau devait répondre à un ensemble de conditions. Il devait donc : respecter un ensemble de formalités ; avoir été reçu, rédigé et vérifié par des agents compétents et avoir donné lieu au paiement d’une taxe sans laquelle l’acte n’aurait pu être authentique puisque d’une part il n’aurait pas été scellé et d’autre part il n’aurait pas été conservé. Une telle analyse met en lumière l’idée selon laquelle l’authenticité n’existe pas en soi mais se présente comme le résultat d’un processus de contrôle et de vérification créé par l’autorité publique et mis en œuvre par des agents spécialement habilités par elle. Cette étude nous donne également l’occasion d’observer que l’écrit n’était pas aussi déprécié dans la société médiévale que ne le pensait traditionnellement la doctrine en histoire du droit. Elle nous a enfin offert l’opportunité de reconsidérer le rapport entre la preuve scripturale et la preuve testimoniale. / This thesis puts forward the notion of the sigillum authenticum at the Medieval time. It proposes a definition of such a concept through the analysis of medieval legal material. The aim is to show that a deed with a sigilum authenticum was used as a tool for power and any persons subject to Community laws. To be recognised as authentic, the seal required a few conditions. It had to respect a set of formalities, to be received, written and verified by officials and to prove a tax payment. Without all these requirements, the seal could not be considered as authentic since it would neither have been sealed nor been. Such an analysis puts forward the idea that authenticity could not exist on its own but was the result of a dynamic process of controls and checkings. Such a process was created by the competent public authority and set up by assermented officials. This study also shows the importance of written proof by the medieval society. It underlines the relationship between the written proof and the oral testimonies.