This paper presents an overview of the institutionalised discourse on ‘cultural heritage’ with emphasis on the recognition of intangible cultural heritage. The presentation has two parts: (i) The first part presents a timeline on shifts of definitions and of actions suggested towards safeguarding world heritage. With a view to trace the aggregation of what we could nowadays call ‘established heritage’, this part examines precise moments from the mid-twentieth century onwards which expanded the notion of monument to urban areas and towards – what is now known as – intangible cultural heritage; (ii) The second part examines the two typologies of heritage – tangible and intangible – through the prism of their definitions given by UNESCO in 1972 and 2003 respectively and identifies the aspects that differentiate process and outcome in heritage discourse
