Ambient Landscapes and Minority Heritage. Representing Jewish Histories in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Stemming from a larger study aimed at considering emic views of heritage at the grassroots level of British Jewish communities, this article explores the topic of minority agency through a discussion of the different ways in which Jewish British citizens would like to see Jewish history and culture represented in the cities of the United Kingdom. Drawing upon anthropological literature on the agency of landscapes and material objects and on the notion of ambience understood as the background cultural/material environment, I focus on my interlocutors’ views about visual representations of this heritage and put forward two interrelated sets of arguments. First, I suggest that my conversation partners imbue spaces pertaining to Jewish heritage with agency to inform the wider community about Jewish history. Second, I propose that their sense of belonging to British society and the overall sense of well-being are in turn affected by the agentive capacities of these sites, some of which are visually prominent whilst others are hidden from sight or unmarked.