Marginal re-presentations: Boundaries on identity (Mediterranean Voices)

Abstract

Intangible Heritage, identity and sense of place are all ideas which are inextricably linked and which, in the world's ever more competitive global economy, are essential to the survival of any tourist destination. This is even more so in the case of islands such as the Canary Islands, which have no nearby country with which to compare and/or relate, having been taught historically, as part of the Spanish domain, to turn their backs on Africa. In areas submitted to the insidious pressure of constant waves of temporary conquest and occupation, that is, tourism, such as the Archipelago which is 80% dependent on this economic sector, there is an implicit danger of staged identity or no identity at all, other than the perceived consumer values of 'this place in the sun'. The Mediterranean Voices team in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the capital city of Gran Canaria, at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, have investigated to what extent 'marginality', as opposed to difference, has seeped into every corner of the islanders' existence, producing the steady erosion of the intangible heritage and self-esteem of the community, parallel to an urban development set upon outer projection rather than satisfaction of internal needs.