Viking ship at the Vikingsheimar Museum – Iceland
Fieldwork conducted at Víkingaheimar and Yorkshire Museum is analysed using theories on historical distancing, collective social memory, nationalism, otherness and representation within museums. These theories are discussed in relation to identity formation and collective memory to examine the role and influences of the Vikings and their age upon modern Icelandic and English society. The results show that participants in the study used the collective social past in order to rationalise present social issues and events. This enabled a positive interpretation and fluid formations of their various identities within the museum exhibition. Additionally, participants made the past more personal by reflecting on their own identity through history. Participants in this study are shown to interpret the past based upon collective memory, ignoring the museum’s historical exhibition narrative in favour of their pre-existing ideas on history.
Gudrun D. Whitehead
University of Leicester: Doctor of Philosophy, School of Museum Studies, March (2013)
Abstract
fonte: @edisonmariotti http://www.medievalists.net/2014/10/06/vikings-barbaric-heroes-exploring-viking-image-museums-iceland-england-impact-identity/