“To climb steep hills, requires slow pace at first” : narratives of cultural resilience in the community of Langtang, in the Nepalese Himalayas

Hayley Saul, Emma Waterton

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    This photo essay explores the notion of cultural resiliency in the Nepali Himalayas, and carries a geographic focus that is centred on the village of Langtang. Our interest in capturing this area photographically emerges from several recent feldwork excursions to Nepal and associated experiences of trekking through two distinct areas: the Langtang Valley and the Annapurna Conservation Area. During our visits to each area, we were struck by local efforts to secure a future in a rapidly changing environment. In the Annapurnas, an overarching story of rapid encroaching development emerges, which has destabilized the fragile balance between conservation and development too quickly for resiliency to surface effectively. In Langtang, by contrast, there is a more positive testimony of nearly half a century of cultural compromises necessary for ecological security (e.g. regulation of medicinal plant harvesting), entailing cultural adaptations into a more diverse range of vocational enterprises (like a community cheese-making factory, tourism, and so forth). While the story of each place is interesting in itself, the unevenness between the two becomes more poignant when they are considered together. Thus, while our primary purpose in this essay is to engage with cultural resiliency in Langtang, we do so whilst also keeping in mind our experiences in the Annapurnas.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)261-282
    Number of pages22
    JournalJournal of Contemporary Archaeology
    Volume2
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015

    Keywords

    • Himalaya mountains
    • Langtang (Nepal)
    • Nepal
    • heritage
    • resilience

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