Legitimacy and heritage circulation: the genealogical taste of Itxassou’s cherries (French Basque Country)

In Itxassou in the French Basque Country, various forms of the heritagization of the cherries are coexisting : festivals, derivatives and ‚small-scale’ heritages are some of them. Three groups of people are taking part in the heritagization system. With the development of those various forms, an important matter appeared: the legitimacy of granting an heritage status. Different dimensions are intertwined in the heritagization of the cherries: the ‘territory’, the ‘terroir’ and the ‘land’. This study deals with the ‚land’ part of the subject which is closely related to the model of the Basque home, called the ‚Etxe’. The ‚Etxe’ ‚is telling’ its inhabitants what they can hand down. On the one hand, the ‚Etxe’ seems to directly grant a heritage status, as it enables to operate a selection between various items. On the other hand, the ‚Etxe’ seems to show its inhabitants how to grant a heritage status.