'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National Museums
This article evaluates how nationalist narratives affect the display of Roman artefacts in national museums. The unique nature of national museums as 'cultural constitutions' and arbiters of the 'Authorised Heritage Discourse' is discussed. This article builds upon previous work...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of York
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Internet Archaeology |
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| Online Access: | https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue67/9/index.html |
| _version_ | 1797290217785262080 |
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| author | William Givens |
| author_facet | William Givens |
| author_sort | William Givens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article evaluates how nationalist narratives affect the display of Roman artefacts in national museums. The unique nature of national museums as 'cultural constitutions' and arbiters of the 'Authorised Heritage Discourse' is discussed. This article builds upon previous work by demonstrating how nationalist influence affects the display of Roman artefacts, specifically through the use of two case studies: the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Museum displays are assessed for indications of nationalist influence through consideration of the use of space and collection composition as well as textual analysis of gallery signage and artefact descriptions. The two museums' divergent approaches to national narrative are then compared. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:19:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c316d7b128104d2faac2662adfc19918 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1363-5387 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:19:17Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | University of York |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Internet Archaeology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c316d7b128104d2faac2662adfc199182024-02-29T11:33:51ZengUniversity of YorkInternet Archaeology1363-53872024-02-016710.11141/ia.67.9'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National MuseumsWilliam Givenshttps://orcid.org/0009-0006-0075-8542This article evaluates how nationalist narratives affect the display of Roman artefacts in national museums. The unique nature of national museums as 'cultural constitutions' and arbiters of the 'Authorised Heritage Discourse' is discussed. This article builds upon previous work by demonstrating how nationalist influence affects the display of Roman artefacts, specifically through the use of two case studies: the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Museum displays are assessed for indications of nationalist influence through consideration of the use of space and collection composition as well as textual analysis of gallery signage and artefact descriptions. The two museums' divergent approaches to national narrative are then compared.https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue67/9/index.htmlarchaeologynational museumbritish museumnational museum of scotlandroman archaeologynationalismdisplay textauthorised heritage discourse |
| spellingShingle | William Givens 'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National Museums Internet Archaeology archaeology national museum british museum national museum of scotland roman archaeology nationalism display text authorised heritage discourse |
| title | 'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National Museums |
| title_full | 'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National Museums |
| title_fullStr | 'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National Museums |
| title_full_unstemmed | 'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National Museums |
| title_short | 'All this in their ignorance they called civilisation': Analysing the Relationship between Nationalism and the Display of Roman Archaeology in Britain's National Museums |
| title_sort | all this in their ignorance they called civilisation analysing the relationship between nationalism and the display of roman archaeology in britain s national museums |
| topic | archaeology national museum british museum national museum of scotland roman archaeology nationalism display text authorised heritage discourse |
| url | https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue67/9/index.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT williamgivens allthisintheirignorancetheycalledcivilisationanalysingtherelationshipbetweennationalismandthedisplayofromanarchaeologyinbritainsnationalmuseums |