Gradients of alterity

Abstract

This chapter proposes to extend Arjun Appadurai's concept of "regime of value" to museum displays by means of its reformulation as "regime of representation". It examines the as an analytical concept in a study of the way Norwegian museums tackle cultural difference. The chapter shows that different combinations of display techniques and narratives constitute different regimes of representation in museums. It follows that – applying Appadurai's theory – museum objects can be made to evoke different meanings according to the museological regime of representation through which they are framed. The chapter suggests argue that through the deployment of different regimes of representation, the museums analysed in this study implicitly communicate such hierarchies. Based on the study of museums in Norway, the last generation of museums displaying other cultures seems to aim to transcend the dichotomy, striving to open up an in-between space where cultural identities are neither past nor faraway.

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