The Palace of Carditello: A Study on the Influence of Counternarratives on the Heritage-Making Community

This thesis delves into the case of The Royal Palace of Carditello, a historic site in southern Italy, and it specifically looks at the context of cultural heritage management in communities, emphasizing the function of counter-narratives in such processes. In view of an interdisciplinary approach, research pursues how counter-narratives, that arise from social movements, local communities and cultural activists, have been important for the practices of restoration, conservation and reinterpretation of this heritage. Management of heritage has most of the time been dominated by institutional voices, expert-led initiatives in most cases sidelining local community perspectives. Nevertheless, this research shows how the counter-narratives can be empowering for these communities and impact on the way heritage is created through more participatory processes. The methodology is built on interviews, archival research and ethnographic methods to understand the changing identity of the Bourbon residence and its relationship with the external community. It specifically demonstrates how local people have taken over the abandoned and dilapidated site and revived it as not only an emblem of regional identity but also as a socio-cultural renewal space. Highlighting the tension between institutional authority and community agency, this thesis explores the potential of counter-narratives as renewal of power as well as new frameworks for more sustainable practices on the discourses of cultural heritage. Ultimately, the current research adds to wider arguments on the power relations in processes of heritage-making and the role of local voices in the construction of cultural memory.