Schemes of (Re)interpreting the Cultural Themes in the Process of Building the City Image
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Silesian University in Katowice
Publication date: 2014-12-31
Polish Sociological Review 2014;188(4):525-540
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ABSTRACT
A city marketing narrative consists in an attempt to provide a new city image or strengthen the existing one. The process of creating the city’s image may affect (re)interpretation of the history, culture, and heritage of the city. In city marketing narrative, the most desired meanings and associations are sequenced as primary, while the most unwanted ones are supposed to be gradually forgotten and eventually eliminated. The presence or significant absence of certain topics, use and abuse of positive themes, and elimination of negative ones may result in disturbing cultural themes. The article explores how the city marketing narrative (re)interpretsmyths, stereotypes, culture, history, and heritage. The project was focused on the city marketing narratives of five Polish cities (Lublin, Poznan, Wroclaw, Katowice and Gdansk). A quantitative and qualitative research study was conducted (in-depth interviews, n=48; content analysis of cities’ marketing narratives; CAWI, n=314). The research made it possible to name three schemes of dealing with history.
FUNDING
The project was funded by the National Science Centre Poland on the basis of the decision No. DEC-2012/05/N/HS6/03962: Cities of meanings: images of Polish cities and social reception of their advertising versus transformation of tradition and cultural content.