Museums, objects and collections : a cultural study

Author

Pearce, Susan M.

Document type

Livre

Language

English

Source

ill.; diagrams; maps; plans; bibliogr.; index ; xi, 296 p. ; 1993

ISBN

1-56098-330-2

Publisher

Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC (usa)

Publication country

United States

Abstract (en)

This book examines the historical context of museums, their collections, and the objects that form them. Pearce probes the psychological and social reasons that people collect and identifies three modes of collecting: collecting as souvenirs, as fetishes, and as systematic assemblages. Showing that down the centuries museums have operated with a range of agendas inherited by contemporary museums, Pearce considers how museum professionals set policies of collection management; acquire, study and exhibit objects; and make meaning of the objects in their care. Pearce also explores the ideological relationship between museums and their collections and the intellectual and social relationships of museums to the public.

Subject (en)

• General works -- Museums and museology
• Museology
• Collectors
• Culture
• Ideology
• Society

Subject (fr)

• Généralités -- Musées et muséologie
• Muséologie
• Collectionneurs
• Culture
• Idéologie
• Société

Origin

DatabaseBHA (Inist-CNRS/GRI)

Identifier19950701-00317266

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