Cultural Heritage's Role in Shaping National Identity in Post-Colonial Societies

Hwang, Jin young (2025) Cultural Heritage's Role in Shaping National Identity in Post-Colonial Societies. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 26 (1). pp. 3170-3181. ISSN 2581-9615

The research examines the role cultural heritage played in building national identity in the post-colonial societies. The research uses India and South Africa as comparative case studies. The study utilizes the interpretivist philosophy in its approach and employs qualitative approach in the collection of data that reveals how societies utilized cultural heritage to shape post-colonial national identity. The qualitative approaches to data collection include interviews, archival analysis, and document review. The findings of the study show that cultural heritage plays a fundamental role of unifying people in the post-colonial societies. However, the study also finds that cultural heritage can have a divisive force in post-colonial societies. Despite the cultural heritage propagating a sense of shared history and belonging, the study found that there are narratives that marginalize certain groups in the case studies. Therefore, the study recommends the need to apply a bottom-up heritage initiatives to ensure proper representation. The study makes a significant contribution to the heritage studies by showing the significance of cultural heritage in unifying communities in the post-colonial era. Additionally, the study emphasizes the need to address historical inequalities through proper representation and exclusion of biased historical narratives.