The book contributes to a recontextualization of authenticity by investigating how this value
is created reenacted and assigned. Over the course of the last century authenticity figured
as the major parameter for the evaluation of cultural heritage. It was adopted in local and
international charters and guidelines on architectural conservation in Europe South and East
Asia. Throughout this period the concept of authenticity was constantly redefined and
transformed to suit new cultural contexts and local concerns. This volume presents colonial and
postcolonial discourses opinions and experiences in the field of architectural heritage
conservation and the use of site-specific practices based on representative case studies
presented by art historians architects anthropologists and conservationists from Germany
Nepal India China and Japan. With more than 180 illustrations and a collection of
terminologies in German English Sanskrit Hindi Nevari and Nepali classical Chinese and
standard Mandarin and Japanese these cross-cultural investigations document the processual
re-configuration of the notion of authenticity. They also show that approaches to authenticity
can be specified with key analytical categories from transcultural studies: appropriation
transformation and in some cases refusal.
