Museums, the Exhibitionary Complex and State Stability in the Victorian Era
This paper focuses on the different agents, whether public, private or voluntary, who in the Victorian Age campaigned in favour of the opening of public museums, whether national, local or municipal, and who invoked an intrication of cultural, political, social and economic rationales to muster supp...
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| Gepubliceerd in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles, |
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| Formaat: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Taal: | Anglais |
| Gepubliceerd in: |
Angles
2020
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| Online toegang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_1528 |
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openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
époque victorienne musées 1851 Grande Exposition éducation contrôle social classes sociales muséographie patrimoine culturel associations caritatives Victorian era museums 1851 Great Exhibition education social control social classes museography cultural heritage charities |
| spellingShingle |
époque victorienne musées 1851 Grande Exposition éducation contrôle social classes sociales muséographie patrimoine culturel associations caritatives Victorian era museums 1851 Great Exhibition education social control social classes museography cultural heritage charities Doustaly, Cécile Museums, the Exhibitionary Complex and State Stability in the Victorian Era |
| description |
This paper focuses on the different agents, whether public, private or voluntary, who in the Victorian Age campaigned in favour of the opening of public museums, whether national, local or municipal, and who invoked an intrication of cultural, political, social and economic rationales to muster support. In particular, these agents foregrounded the supposed capacity of museums to educate, pacify and control sections of the population considered as a threat to state stability. How were these objects of concern, i.e. the working classes, presented in the different discourses and actions relating to museums, before and after their opening? The Victorian period was one of unstable, shifting social conditions in urban areas, characterised by an increased dynamic of urbanisation, coupled with neighbourhood segregation and related problems (criminality, betting, alcohol).These changes spurred the development of the rational recreation movement, whose support for the creation of public cultural institutions is examined here. The 1851 Exhibition is focused on, insofar as it provided a quite different exhibitionary complex and context, compared to that of museums. 1851 is identified as a turning point of the Victorian Era, involving as it did a shift away from the pacifying function, until then associated with museums. In conclusion, the article examines the factors which enabled these Victorian public museums to attract large number of visits from the working classes, in a context of enduring class distinction. The article draws on primary sources and also on established theories of social control, from that of Bailey (a leisure historian) and Bennett (who drew on Foucault’s approach to apprehend the function of museums), but also on Parrat, Taylor, Kriegel, and, more recently, Jennings, Quinn, Purbrick and Woodson Boulton. The periodization, categorisation of actors, and the typology of museums proposed in this paper allows us to highlight the specific relevance of the conflicting theories regarding the role of museums. |
| author |
Doustaly, Cécile |
| author_facet |
Doustaly, Cécile |
| author_sort |
Doustaly, Cécile |
| title |
Museums, the Exhibitionary Complex and State Stability in the Victorian Era |
| title_short |
Museums, the Exhibitionary Complex and State Stability in the Victorian Era |
| title_full |
Museums, the Exhibitionary Complex and State Stability in the Victorian Era |
| title_fullStr |
Museums, the Exhibitionary Complex and State Stability in the Victorian Era |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Museums, the Exhibitionary Complex and State Stability in the Victorian Era |
| title_sort |
museums, the exhibitionary complex and state stability in the victorian era |
| publisher |
Angles |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.1528 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/angles/1528 |
| _version_ |
1877293948403187712 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_1528 https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.1528 urn:doi:10.4000/angles.1528 en https://journals.openedition.org/angles/1528 2020-07-16T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/9n04 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Museums, the Exhibitionary Complex and State Stability in the Victorian Era Angles Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2274-2042 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles Doustaly, Cécile époque victorienne musées 1851 Grande Exposition éducation contrôle social classes sociales muséographie patrimoine culturel associations caritatives Victorian era museums 1851 Great Exhibition education social control social classes museography cultural heritage charities This paper focuses on the different agents, whether public, private or voluntary, who in the Victorian Age campaigned in favour of the opening of public museums, whether national, local or municipal, and who invoked an intrication of cultural, political, social and economic rationales to muster support. In particular, these agents foregrounded the supposed capacity of museums to educate, pacify and control sections of the population considered as a threat to state stability. How were these objects of concern, i.e. the working classes, presented in the different discourses and actions relating to museums, before and after their opening? The Victorian period was one of unstable, shifting social conditions in urban areas, characterised by an increased dynamic of urbanisation, coupled with neighbourhood segregation and related problems (criminality, betting, alcohol).These changes spurred the development of the rational recreation movement, whose support for the creation of public cultural institutions is examined here. The 1851 Exhibition is focused on, insofar as it provided a quite different exhibitionary complex and context, compared to that of museums. 1851 is identified as a turning point of the Victorian Era, involving as it did a shift away from the pacifying function, until then associated with museums. In conclusion, the article examines the factors which enabled these Victorian public museums to attract large number of visits from the working classes, in a context of enduring class distinction. The article draws on primary sources and also on established theories of social control, from that of Bailey (a leisure historian) and Bennett (who drew on Foucault’s approach to apprehend the function of museums), but also on Parrat, Taylor, Kriegel, and, more recently, Jennings, Quinn, Purbrick and Woodson Boulton. The periodization, categorisation of actors, and the typology of museums proposed in this paper allows us to highlight the specific relevance of the conflicting theories regarding the role of museums. Cet article s’intéresse aux différents acteurs, publics, privés ou associatifs, qui durant l’époque victorienne ont mené des campagnes en faveur de l’ouverture de musées, nationaux, locaux, municipaux, en s’appuyant sur un écheveau d’arguments culturels, politiques, sociaux et économiques,, en invoquant notamment la capacité supposée des musées à éduquer, pacifier, contrôler des pans de la population jugés instables, susceptibles donc de menacer la sécurité et stabilité de l’État. Comment était présenté cet objet d’inquiétude, c’est-à-dire la classe ouvrière, dans les différents discours et actions en lien avec les musées, avant et après leur ouverture ? La période correspond à une mutation des villes : accélération de l’urbanisation et de la ségrégation des quartiers, problèmes associés (criminalité, jeux d’argent, alcool), qui conduisent au développement d’un mouvement en faveur des loisirs censés être porteurs d’une visée moralisatrice. Le soutien manifesté pour la création d’institutions culturelles publiques est analysé ici en regard de celui attesté pour d’autres mouvements et associations. La Grande Exposition de 1851 est abordée, dans la mesure où elle établit un contexte expositionnel spécifique, différent de celui des musées. Le moment peut donc être identifié comme un tournant dans l’ère victorienne et dans le rôle pacificateur jusqu’alors associé avec les musées. Enfin, sont analysées les raisons pour lesquelles ces musées victoriens parviennent à attirer un grand nombre de visiteurs issus de la classe ouvrière, bien que les distinctions de classe restent opérantes. L’article s’appuie sur des sources primaires, sur les théories classiques sur le contrôle social : de Bailey (historien du loisir) et de Bennett (qui s’appuie sur les théories de Foucault, en les appliquant aux musées britanniques), mais aussi sur Parrat, Taylor, Kriegel, et, plus récemment, Jennings, Quinn, Purbrick and Woodson Boulton. La périodisation, la catégorisation des acteurs, la typologie des musées articulés dans l’article, permettent d’interroger et de tester la pertinence relative des théories divergentes quant au rôle assumé par les musées. |