共同体构建的当代路径——从博物馆身份认同和记忆角度分析

Contemporary Pathways of Building the“Community”:An Analysis from Aspects of Identity and Memory of Museums

工业革命以后欧洲发生巨大变革,至二战以后的后殖民时期,思想和经济在全球所谓一体化下形成新的影响秩序。博物馆随之应运而生,在欧洲和北美显现繁荣发展之后波及全球。然而,在时代变化下,博物馆自身的身份认同和社会定位不断发生着改变,已经历了从“圣殿”般的精英设置到人民性的过程,经历了由“物”向“非物”的转型。在原有社会职能尚未转身的前提下,作为向受众提供反思、现实与虚幻之间的“第三空间”,深入探讨博物馆的本质——博物馆可谓是一种记忆的固化形式,并通过“记忆”这一媒介和方法来构建民族想象共同体的一种社会存在形式。当下在全球疫情之下,在不断显现的社会危机及环境变化等诸多问题之下,“后博物馆”时代亟须基于历史和过去的更多新的思考。

Nowadays,museums are present everywhere in this world and are taken for granted generally. However,their origins primarily are in colonization and colonialism. Because the so-called"developed civilizations"carried home their plunder and placed them in museums,and tried to mimic the House of Muses,following the model of the ancient Library of Alexandria. From the Industrial Revolution onwards,however,many changes and exchanges have been taking place worldwide.Museums adjusted gradually by reorienting more on the chronicles of wars,colonization,pillage,postcolonization,etc. In more recent times,museums-under the banner of "cosmopolitan imagination"-have been refocusing their attention on collecting and exhibiting. All over the world,museums presented themselves as icons of urban civilization,however,in a subconscious spirit of Eurocentrism.Nevertheless,with the change of the society,the identity and the role of museums are also changing and shifting constantly. Formerly,museums were seen as revered shrines but nowadays they have become part of pop culture and are accessible for regular folks. A new transformation from the physical and tangible to the invisible and intangible is happening as well. We can see this,for example,by how museums have been redefining themselves historically as well as by the practices of both museums and other cultural organizations. As we can see clearly,the traditional boundaries of museums have been increasingly crossed and redrawn. Furthermore,the old ways of putting everything into museum cabinets have been questioned both theoretically and practically. Various societal and natural challenges have led museums to weaken their former physical functions of collections and displays. Instead,the greater power of memory-that is contained in objects-has become the main force of contemporary museums. By using advanced tools and methods, museums have constructed certain collective memories that were ingrained in established organizational structures and stories,which had universal,individual,spatial,and chronological traits. In this way, museums have been able to portray origins,histories,roots,and so forth. Based on these activities,both individual and collective memories have been made tangible. Meanwhile,different communities have received recognition, constructed their common characteristics and spirit,and built a sense of belonging. Hence,these national memories and systems of perception have been turning to the foundation stones of national imagined communities.As a social support,as a "third space "for reflection on what lies between illusion and reality,museums have started to embody and concretize memory,operating as a methodology and a medium to construct an imagined community. Forming part of public policy and working as a construction tool for diverse societies,museums will be elevated in the future to the rank of being a space of reflection,renewal of thought,restoration,incorporating into a broader space of the new globalization.