Heterotopia or Carnival Site?

This article seeks to explore the Bakhtinian carnivalesque in relation to museums generally and to ethnographic museums in particular. The Bakhtinian carnivalesque is based on antihierarchicalism, laughter, embodiment, and temporality, and it has the potential to move museums away from a problematic association with heterotopia. Instead, the carnivalesque allows ethnographic museums to be recognized as active agents in the sociopolitical worlds around them, offers a lens through which to examine and move forward some current practices, and forces museums to reconsider their position and necessity. This article also reflects on the value of transdisciplinary approaches in museum studies, positioning literary theory in particular as a valuable analytical resource.

Download Full-text

Introduction

The Museum as a Cinematic Space ◽

10.3366/edinburgh/9781474416795.003.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Elisa Mandelli

Keyword(s):

Media Studies ◽

Interdisciplinary Approach ◽

Museum Studies ◽

Exhibition Design ◽

Moving Images ◽

The Us ◽

Ethnographic Museums ◽

Film And Media Studies ◽

The Subject ◽

Exhibition Strategies

The introduction presents the subject of the monograph: the use of moving images in the exhibition design of museums. The focus is on different kinds of institutions, chiefly art, history, science and ethnographic museums in Europe and the US. Within these settings, films and audio-visuals are not displayed as works of art, but rather as tools for contextualization, explanation or visitor engagement. However, their role is far from being merely instrumental, and they deeply affect the exhibition strategies of museums. Furthermore, the introduction provides the theoretical framework of the monograph and illustrates the methodology. In order to investigate the display of moving images in museums, the book adopts a strongly interdisciplinary approach that combines theoretical and methodological tools drawn primarily from museum, film, and media studies. Following museum studies, it pays attention not only to the way in which exhibition design can influence the meaning of the exhibits, but also to the type of relationship that the visitor establishes with the contents proposed by the institution. On the other hand, film and media studies offer methodological instruments to investigate the dissemination of moving images outside the movie theatres, both in the past and in the present.

Download Full-text