Living History Museums

Undoing History through Performance

Häftad, Engelska, 2007

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Beskrivning

Living history museums are cultural institutions that merge historical exhibits with live costumed performance. While unique and vitally important, they often compromise historical accuracy and authenticity for the sake of tourism and entertainment value. Many also pursue methods of performance and historiography that are becoming increasingly outdated. Living History Museums: Undoing History Through Performance examines the performance practices used by institutions such as Plimoth Plantation and Colonial Williamsburg, and offers a new genealogy of living history museum performance in the U.S. and Europe. Currently, existing scholarship on living history museums addresses the subject from a museum-studies or anthropology perspective. Author Scott Magelssen, however, approaches the material from a background in theatre history and theory, analyzing living history museums using postmodern methodology. Considering performance as a method for the study of history and exploring emergent non-traditional theatrical practices, the book offers suggestions for performance in an increasingly postmodern landscape. Concluding with an international listing of living history institutions and a complete list of sources, Living History Museums is a valuable resource for students and teachers of theatre and performance studies, cultural studies, folklore, popular culture, American studies, and museum studies.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2007-02-01
Mått:155 x 232 x 15 mm
Vikt:399 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:252
Förlag:Scarecrow Press
ISBN:9780810858657

Utforska kategorier

Referensverk och tvärvetenskap inom Samhälle och politik
Teater inom Kultur

Mer om författaren

Scott Magelssen is associate professor of Theatre at Bowling Green State University. He has published articles on living history museums in many theatre journals, including Theatre History Studies and The Drama Review. The author won the 2005 Gerald Kahan Award for the Best Essay in Theatre Studies by a Younger Scholar for his article "Performance Practices of [Living] Open-Air Museums (And a New Look at 'Skansen' in American Living Museum Discourse)," published in Theatre History Studies in 2004.

Recensioner i media

After outlining a new history of these performances in the United States and Europe, Magelssen offers suggestions for their improvement, which he sates is achievable if museums abandon their 'just-the-facts' mentality and embrace alternative modes of performance.

Innehållsförteckning

Part 1 AcknowledgmentsPart 2 IntroductionPart 3 Chapter 1 The Dilemmas of Contemporary Living History Museum Historiography in Theory and PracticeChapter 4 The Progressive Development Narrative of Living History Museum HistoryChapter 5 Progressive Histories: Major WorksChapter 6 The Progressive Development Narrative in PracticeChapter 7 (In)authentic Revolutions: Time, Space, and Living History MuseumsChapter 8 Plimoth PlantationChapter 9 Colonial WIlliamsburgChapter 10 Old Sturbridge VillageChapter 11 Storytelling vs. Scientific DiscoursePart 12 Chapter 2 Toward a New Genealogy of Living History Museum PerformanceChapter 13 A Historiography of ImmanenceChapter 14 Defining the EpistemeChapter 15 An Emergence within a Shifting FieldChapter 16 Capitalizing on the Past—Capitalizing on LossChapter 17 Social History and the Trajectory of Living Museum PerformanceChapter 18 The Naturalistic IdealChapter 19 Living History as PleasurePart 20 Chapter 3 Performace as Historiography at Living History MuseumsChapter 21 The Historiography of PerformanceChapter 22 The FieldChapter 23 Missed OpportunitiesChapter 24 Alternatives to the Naturalistic ModeChapter 25 Post-Tourists and Living History PerformacePart 26 ConclusionPart 27 Appendix: Selected Living History Programming SitesPart 28 BibliographyPart 29 IndexPart 30 About the Author