Redefining heritage, one word at a time
What we do
Heritage words, like cultural goods, have multiple lives. However, professional and academic definitions tend to overlook this linguistic and social richness, and are sometimes normalizing, standardized, and/or Eurocentric. The relative dominance of institutional over situated vocabulary only amplifies this phenomenon.
The GloCo glossary aims to address this shortcoming by presenting alternative and/or complementary definitions to those found in more general and technical glosssaries. It is a digital platform that brings together the perspectives of communities and the work of researchers, students, artists, and conservation professionals. It is not a universal glossary, but rather reflects the knowledge and perspectives of its contributors.
The GloCo glossary aims to address this shortcoming, by presenting alternative and/or complementary definitions to those found in more general and technical dictionaries.
Field surveys played an important role in the process of selecting words and images, as well as in the writing of the texts themselves, to ensure that the relevant socio-cultural groups of concern were properly involved in the glossary’s development. Prior to any discussions and information gathering, the glossary’s rationale, objectives, and purpose were first presented to the parties involved. Those who participated in this stage of the project chose the words to be defined freely, either according to their knowledge of the subject or by affinity. Some definitions have been co-produced via a collaborative process between project members and knowledge-bearers, while others were supplied directly by the communities themselves.
The GloCo glossary presents specific words linked to localized contexts and realities, as well as “crossover” words that can be found, in one form or another, across continents. The research was carried out according to either geographical area or socio-cultural group.
In most cases, those involved wanted the words defined to remain in their source languages. This has the significant benefit of protecting concepts from any distortion or simplification that may arise from misunderstanding or a mistranslation into borrowed languages such as French and English. However, these languages have nevertheless been used to define and make broadly accessible the terms presented.
The act of defining a word must reckon with the question of untranslatability, which, as the philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne puts it, is not only a form of resistance to translation into a foreign language, but also a translation between cultures without end.
This glossary is part of the Global Conservation: Histories and Theories (GloCo) program, established by Noémie Étienne at the University of Vienna, and supported by the European Union for Scientific Research (ERC Consolidator Grant).
Our Commitment to Ethical Collaboration
At GloCo, we believe in fostering a respectful, inclusive, and equitable platform. Our Ethics Policy ensures that every contribution honors cultural authenticity, promotes collaboration, and upholds the integrity of heritage knowledge.
The digital curation of the site was led by Mutanu Kyany’a of African Digital Heritage (Kenya), in collaboration with Mercy Kabiria and the the GloCo team.