Museums, Collections and Social Repair in Vietnam (Routledge Research on Museums and Heritage in Asia) - Softcover

Were, Graeme

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1032187921 ISBN 13: 9781032187921

Publisher: Routledge, 2024

Synopsis

Museums, Collections and Social Repair in Vietnam analyses the relationship between museums, collections and social repair in contemporary Vietnam.

Drawing on fieldwork in a range of museums in the country, alongside interviews with museum workers and stakeholders, and analyses of museum exhibitions, the book explores how museums help ordinary people overcome loss suffered during conflict. Focusing on key objects in museum collections that elicit strong emotions or feelings, Graeme Were examines their relationship to social repair and transformation, in order to understand what mobilises survivors, families and communities to recover and re-evaluate memory and give prominence to grievances and loss or future hopes and aspirations. Arguing that nationalist frameworks no longer adequately account for the diverse agendas of Vietnamese museums, this book brings into question the dynamics between history and memory; the capacity of the museum to repair injury, loss or suffering; and the limits of historical memory beyond the control of a one-party state.

Museums, Collections and Social Repair in Vietnam analyses the role of museums in transforming lives and creating a just future. It will be of interest to academics and students engaged in the study of museums, heritage, Asia, tourism and anthropology.

About this title

About the Author

Graeme Were is Chair and Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Bristol. His research interests include museums, heritage and material culture, and he has a regional specialism in Vietnam and Papua New Guinea.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1032187921
• ISBN 13: 9781032187921
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 114