Narrative Theory in Conservation engages with conservation, heritage
studies, and architectural approaches to historic buildings, offering a
synthesis of the best of each, and demonstrating that conservation is
capable of developing a complementary, but distinct, theoretical
position of its own.
Tracing the ideas behind the development of modern conservation in the
West, and considering the challenges presented by non-Western practice,
the book engages with the premodern understanding of innovation within
tradition, and frames historic buildings as intergenerational, communal,
ongoing narratives. Redefining the appropriate object of conservation,
it suggests a practice of conserving the questions that animate and
energize local cultures, rather than only those instantiated answers
that expert opinion has declared canonical. Proposing a narrative
approach to historic buildings, the book provides a distinctive new
theoretical foundation for conservation, and a basis for a more equal
dialogue with other disciplines concerned with the historic environment.
Narrative Theory in Conservation articulates a coherent theoretical
position for conservation that addresses the urgent question of how
historic buildings that remain in use should respond to change. As such,
the book should be of great interest to academics, researchers, and
postgraduate students from the fields of conservation, heritage studies,
and architecture.
