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ULRICH MÜLLER Contested Identities 'LH७1HYDGD७7HVW७6LWH௵७1HYDGD௵७XQG७GDV७ :HOWHUEH७/H७0RUQH௵७0DXULWLXV

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ULRICH MÜLLER Contested Identities 'LH७1HYDGD७7HVW७6LWH௵७1HYDGD௵७XQG७GDV७ :HOWHUEH७/H७0RUQH௵७0DXULWLXV 271 ULRICH MÜLLER Contested Identities 'LH७1HYDGD७7HVW७6LWH௵७1HYDGD௵७XQG७GDV७ :HOWHUEH७/H७0RUQH௵७0DXULWLXV Stichworte: Kalter Krieg, Protest, Welterbe, Kreo- The case of Le Morne Brabant seems somewhat lisierung, Identität, materielle und immaterielle GLIIHUHQWPHDQLQJȴUVWZDVDVVLJQHGWRWKHPRXQ- Ressourcen tain and the surrounding landscape and by this they were made part of discourses. NTS and the Peace Camp with their historic Abstract dimensionality show the dialectics of social move- ments during the 20th cent. and are almost para- This paper presents two case studies for the for- digmatic examples of contested spaces. Boundary mation of social identities in contested landscapes: drawing is immediately visible by the physical iso- The Nevada-Test-Site (NTS) in the USA and the lation of the NTS. The boundaries between Peace World Heritage Site Le Morne Brabant on the is- &DPSDQG176DUHH\HFDWFKLQJDWȴUVWVLJKWEH- land of Mauritius. Between 1951 and 1992 the NTS cause the fence around the NTS separates pub- was one of the largest sites for atmospheric and lic from closed space. The differences are most underground testing of nuclear weapons. From the striking: a camp of 20 square kilometres, tents 1950s until the 1990s the Peace Camp near the NTS and improvised infrastructure, spontaneous ac- was one of the hot spots for the movements pro- tion and protest happenings on one hand, on the testing against nuclear energy and war. other a 4000 square kilometre testing site, elab- Le Morne Brabant is a mountain situated in the orate high-technology and meticulously planned southwest of the island of Mauritius. In 2008 the VFLHQWLȴFUHVHDUFK5HJDUGLQJVSDFHWKHFDPSZDV whole region, as a symbol of identity building and a mark for ‘the other’ and the ‘elsewhere’. The WKHȴJKWDJDLQVWVODYHU\ZDVGHFODUHGD&XOWXUDO people within the Peace Camp, at least temporarily, Landscape. VWRRGRXWVLGHRIWKHGHȴQHGOHJLWLPDWHRUGHUDQG Sites and spaces of Le Morne Brabant and the therefore bonded even closer. In sharp contrast, NTS, together with the peace camp witnessed mul- the NTS constituted a ‘closed space’ – access was tiple social identities and the practices, and tangi- almost impossible for un-authorised persons. Even ble as well as intangible resources associated with now, tourists need a special permit. Still, it did not them. While tangible cultural heritage often seems accommodate a ‘gated community’ like compa- homogenous and passive, intangible heritage in- rable testing sites in the Soviet Union or in China. stead is dynamic and based in community. The The space surrounding the NTS, originally settled landscape of both sites and spaces also stands for by Native Americans, was free but not easy to ac- multiple discourses. The remote part of the Nevada cess for anybody, being a desert area. With the es- desert is a scene of socio-political discourses, but tablishment of the NTS its surroundings became the landscape is only charged with meaning be- a kind of buffer zone. A stay was possible but not cause of the construction of the NTS and the Peace easily practicable and certainly not welcome. With Camp. Its tangible objects being of fundamental the starting of protests a part of this space was oc- VLJQLȴFDQFHDOUHDG\EHFDXVHRIWKHQXFOHDUWHVWLQJ cupied and turned into a space of public interest 272 Ulrich Müller and meaning. The heterogeneous group of activists Creoles is called for, while the creole identity on again created a space only open to access for those Mauritius seems to be dynamic, creating multiple being part of the protest movement. and heterogeneous identities. Thus, a contested The ‘contestation’ seems obvious but the so- landscape and boundary drawing become evident FLDOLGHQWLWLHVDUHPRUHFRPSOH[$WȴUVWVLJKWD by visible, including and excluding, limitations. clear distinction is recognisable in the dichotomy Touristic resorts and private beaches on the one between nuclear testing programme and anti-nu- hand, landscapes and villages of the local predom- clear movement. Interviews with NTS employees inantly creole population on the other. Still, the UHYHDOWKDWWKH\GHȴQHWKHPVHOYHVDVDKRPRJH- boundaries are fluctuant: tourism expands into nous group. The same is true for the protesters, the villages and also integrates locals for example but a closer inspection reveals, how identities are as employees. The ‘contestation’ is less comprehen- formed by tangible and intangible resources and sible through physical places than through intan- how the practices of those identities create new re- gible ones. It affects participation or exclusion of sources in turn. The nuclear programme with the the local population and becomes manifest in the NTS as a physical reality, as well as the Peace Camp question, if and how much whether Le Morne is re- are likewise tangible and intangible. With its con- lated to creole identity creation. cepts of peace, disarmament and faith it is some- how mirroring the NTS. Both the spaces of the NTS and the Peace Camp today have turned into spaces 1. Einleitung and sites of commemoration, where present meets the past. For visitors the Peace Camp is hardly un- Im Jahre 2008 wurde Le Morne Brabant, ein Ta- derstandable without background information. felberg im Südwesten der Insel Mauritius und The NTS and its materialities on the other hand are sein Umfeld zum Weltkulturerbe erklärt. Mit der immediately apparent. For the protest movement, Ausweisung von Le Morne als Cultural Landscape heterogeneous as it may be, the NTS is a symbol wird nicht zuletzt den vielfältigen Interaktionen for the resistance against war and nuclear menace: zwischen Mensch und Natur Rechnung getragen.1 The ‘Sacred Peace Walk’ is still conducted even if Le Morne Brabant ist nicht nur eine Weltkulturer- nuclear testing has stopped. For tourists the NTS bestätte, sondern eine Halbinsel, die durch exklu- LVDPRQXPHQWRIWKHVRPHWLPHVJORULȴHGSHUL- siven Tourismus dominiert wird. Im Jahre 2008 od from the 50s to the 80s and it continues to be a formierte sich – wie auch in den Jahren zuvor – place of work. der alljährliche Protest der Nevada Desert Expe- Declaring Le Morne Brabant a Cultural Land- rience am Nevada Test Site (NTS). Er fand seinen scape demonstrates the importance of the spatial Ausdruck unter anderem im Sacred Peace Walk element, here seen as a reciprocal structuring of zu den Toren von Mercury, der Stadt am Eingang activity and physical space, for discourses of social zum NTS-Gelände.2 Das NTS war zwischen 1951 LGHQWLW\7KHSHQLQVXODLVȴOOHGDQGFKDUJHGZLWK und 1992 eines der größten Testgelände für unter- meaning. Tangible and intangible resources are und oberirdische Atomwaffentests. Das mit den mutually dependent on each other and especial- Protesten verbundene Peace Camp bildete von den ly the latter seem to be extremely dynamic. In the 1950er bis in die 1990er Jahre hinein einen „hot- course of time, the peninsula Le Morne changed spot“ des Widerstandes gegen Atomenergie und from a barren place of refuge for runaway slaves Krieg und für Abrüstung und Frieden. to a creole settlement site, then to a touristic en- Im Folgenden wird es darum gehen, anhand clave and now to a world-wide recognised symbol dieser beiden Orte, den mit ihnen verbundenen RIVODYHU\7KHSODFHDWȴUVWVLJKWRQO\RIUHOHYDQFH Räumen, die Teil von Landschaften sind, Identitäts- for local history, became a component of ‘nation bildungen und Identitäten aus der Perspektive von building’ emphasising multi- and transcultural- ity as a constructive element of the Republic of 1 Le Morne Brabant <http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/ 1259/> (letzter Zugriff 10.03.2016). Mauritius. This interpretation is not unanimous- 2 Nevada Desert Experience <http://www.nevadadeser- ly shared, a cultural and political participation of texperience.org/> (letzter Zugriff 10.03.2016). Contested Identities 273 Contested Landscapes bzw. Contested Spaces nach- reproduzieren diese Ungleichheitsverhältnisse. Im zuzeichnen. Die Raumdiskussion hat in Anlehnung Falle einer Contestation sind diese Zuschreibungen an zahlreiche Arbeiten (z. B. von H. Lefevre) in den inklusiver und exklusiver Natur, die unter ande- letzten Jahren deutlich herausgestellt, dass Räume rem Hierarchien im Raum entstehen lassen und kulturell und sozial konstruiert sind und die kon- HQWVSUHFKHQGH.RQȵLNWSRWHQWLDOHELHWHQ(VG¾UIWH kreten Orte soziale Räume im doppelten Sinne auf der Hand liegen, dass das Konzept der Contes- sind. Raum bedeutet, um auch hier das berühm- tation und der Contested Spaces gerade für die his- te Zitat zu bringen, die „relationale(n) (An)Ord- torischen Kulturwissenschaften großes Potential nungen von Menschen (Lebewesen) und sozialen bietet und in Hinblick auf die Diskussion um Welt- Gütern“ (Löw 2001, 166). Entsprechend dem topo- kulturerbe von Bedeutung ist (z. B. Jenkins 2008; JUDȴFWXUQ ist Landschaft als Raum nicht nur eine Silvermann 2011; Tauschek 2013; Tilley 2006). materielle, sondern auch eine soziale und kultu- Vor diesem Hintergrund ist auch das Konzept relle Realität und Repräsentation. Ein relationaler der Contested Landscapes zu sehen, das insbeson- Landschaftsbegriff (z. B. Gailing/Leibenath 2015) dere Barbara Bender formulierte (Bender 2002; ist analog zum Raum zu verstehen und wird dem- Bender/Winer 2001). Nach Bender ist Landschaft entsprechend in einem Prozess der Strukturierung ein Medium, durch das dominante Ideologien durch das Handeln der Akteure und Akteursgrup- und politische Macht auch physisch ausgedrückt pen konstruiert wie umgekehrt diese individuel- werden. Landschaft ist multivokal, denn in ihr
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