The archaeology and heritage of mega events in London, 1851-2012
This thesis examines the development of mega events in the the modern era, such as International Expos, World Fairs, and Olympic Games, and their relationship to archaeology and heritage through comparing three significant examples from Londonâs recent history: The Great Exhibition of 1851; the 1951 Festival of Britainâs South Bank Exhibition; and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Taking a contemporary archaeological and critical heritage studies approach, I argue that such mega events â defined as a genre of large, transitory and internationally-focussed cultural spectacles â leave a unique set of traces upon their host societies and that, as a result, we can observe several key âsignaturesâ which characterise all mega events and their long term roles in society. These signatures include a quixotic and tense relationship with a variety of conceptualisations of the role of the past in the present â both in terms of mega event site histories and, more broadly, national and imperial âstoriesâ; a concern with their own historicity and a sense of exceptionality â the âlargestâ, âthe firstâ for example; and, despite their often future-oriented rhetoric, a key concern with
Gardner, J. W.
The archaeology and heritage of mega events in London, 1851-2012. This thesis examines the development of mega events in the the modern era, such as International Expos, World Fairs, and Olympic Games, and their relationship to archaeology and heritage through comparing three significant examples from Londonâs recent history: The Great Exhibition of 1851; the 1951 Festival of Britainâs South Bank Exhibition; and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Taking a contemporary archaeological and critical heritage studies approach, I argue that such mega events â defined as a genre of large, transitory and internationally-focussed cultural spectacles â leave a unique set of traces upon their host societies and that, as a result, we can observe several key âsignaturesâ which characterise all mega events and their long term roles in society. These signatures include a quixotic and tense relationship with a variety of conceptualisations of the role of the past in the present â both in terms of mega event site histories and, more broadly, national and imperial âstoriesâ; a concern with their own historicity and a sense of exceptionality â the âlargestâ, âthe firstâ for example; and, despite their often future-oriented rhetoric, a key concern with
archaeology_heritage event london examines_development event modern_era international world games relationship archaeology_heritage compare significant example london recent history great_exhibition person festival britain south bank exhibition london games taking contemporary archaeological critical heritage study argue event define genre large internationally focussed cultural spectacle leave unique set trace upon host society observe several_key signature characterise event long_term role society signature include tense relationship variety conceptualisation role past_present term event site history broadly national imperial story concern historicity sense large first example despite often future oriented rhetoric key concern