Bringing together heritage studies and literary studies, this book examines heritage as a ubiquitous trope in contemporary Britain, a seemingly inescapable figure for relations to the past. It interrogates metaphoric resonances: that bestowing past, receiving present, and transmitted bounty are all singular and unified; that transmission between past and present is smooth, despite heritage depending on death; that the past enjoins the present to conserve its legacy into the future. Heritage as a trope is explored through core accounts of political theory; seminal documents within historic conservation; phenomenology and poststructuralism; film and TV; and a range of contemporary fiction.
