Antagonism of Discourses around Cultural Heritage

Abstract

The article provides a discourse-analysis of the contemporary conflict over the preservation of Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments. The main participants in this conflict are 10 interest groups, which are reassembled each time in the process of articulating the discourse of their group. These actors are: UNESCO, local and federal governments, businesses, urban conservationists, residents and existing physical heritage. The article considers the dispositive of discourses that supports group formation and group identity. The results found are presented visually and graphically. From the media and social networks, the case of the destruction of the heritage is reconstructed and the discourse of city defenders is considered. The conflict of discourses and new types of antagonisms associated with different ones are reconstructed: the regime of affects, the visualization of the city, the development of the objective environment, the instruments of social action, and representation in the media and social networks. The article is intended for those interested in discursive analysis, actor-network theory, affect theory, world heritage, visualization of space, media, identity, and urbanism.