Academic Anthropology and the Museum by Mary Bouquet

Academic Anthropology and the Museum by Mary Bouquet

The museum boom, with its accompanying objectification and politicization of culture, finds its counterpart in the growing interest by social scientists in material culture, much of which is to be found in museums. Not surprisingly, anthropologists in particular are turning their attention again to museums, after decades of neglect, during which fieldwork became the hallmark of modern anthropology - so much so that the "social" and the "material" parted company so radically as to produce a kind of knowledge gap between historical collections and the intellectuals who might have benefitted from working on these material representations of culture. Moreover it was forgotten that museums do not only present the "pastness" of things. A great deal of what goes on in contemporary museums is literally about planning the shape of the future: making culture materialize involves mixing things from the past, taking into account current visions, and knowing that the scenes constructed will shape the perspectives of future generations. However, the (re-)invention of museum anthropology presents a series of challenges for academic teaching and research, as well as for the work of cultural production in contemporary museums - issues that are explored in this volume.

"The book's central argument is well made"  · Museum National

"...focuses on anthropologists, but the consideration given to the relations between academic and museum worlds will be useful to any scholar with current affiliations or aspirations to engage with museum culture. In terms of the volume's original intent, as a work responding to the needs of those teaching and studying anthro-museology, it is an impressive accomplishment."   · Anthropologica

Mary Bouquet teaches Cultural Anthropology and Museum Studies at Utrecht University College. Her publications include Bringing It All Back Home to the Oslo University Ethnographic Museum , published by Scandinavian University Press (1996).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781571813213
ISBN 10	1571813217
Title	Academic Anthropology and the Museum
Author	Mary Bouquet
Series	New Directions In Anthropology
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Berghahn Books, Incorporated
Year published	2001-12-01
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.