The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics

by Tony Bennett

In a series of richly detailed case studies from Britian, Australia and North America, Tony Bennett investigates how nineteenth- and twentieth-century museums, fairs and exhibitions have organized their collections, and their visitors. Discussing the historical development of museums alongside that of the fair and the international exhibition, Bennett sheds new light upon the relationship between modern forms of official and popular culture. Using Foucaltian perspectives The Birth of the Museum explores how the public museum should be understood not just as a place of instruction, but as a reformatory of manners in which a wide range of regulated social routines and performances take place. This invigorating study enriches and challenges the understanding of the museum, and places it at the centre of modern relations between culture and government. For students of museum, cultural and sociology studies, this will be an asset to their reading list.

Genres: Museums, History, Nonfiction, Art, Art History, Museology, Theory

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

About the author

Tony Bennett is an English academic who has also worked in Australia. Bennett is an important figure in the development of the Australian approach to cultural studies known as "cultural policy studies."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Be...


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Tony Bennett

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really in-depth research of modern museum. It is interesting but quite hard to read. Too theoretical.

[Bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

you’ve heard of panopticon…now get ready for its foil…the crystal palace

[João Gabriel Caia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony Bennett, sociólogo britânico na área dos estudos culturais, propõe-se a analisar o “nascimento do museu público”, um novo instrumento político para a cultura no século XIX, focando-se no ambiente científico e tecnológico que envolve objetos para redefinir normas sociais e influenciar comportamentos do público. Além disso, também tem em conta o cruzamento das diferentes ciências que organizam o museu para representar a evolução humana, numa relação permanente de sujeito e objeto face ao homem. As leituras que o autor faz da obra de Foucault revelam-se especialmente influentes nas definições sobre conhecimento, disciplina e poder que o autor aplica adequadamente ao contexto das políticas dos estados-nação (com especial foco na Inglaterra) que conduziram à criação dos museus.
Por recorrer à análise de vasta literatura da época e documentação referente a vários museus e aos seus atores mais preponderantes, o autor consegue problematizar a génese do museu enquanto espaço sujeito a racionalidade política capaz de influenciar narrativas, representatividades e públicos de forma estruturante. Com autoridade assente nos novos conhecimentos que emergiam de diferentes disciplinas científicas que se consolidavam (antropologia, arqueologia, biologia, geologia e história, nomeadamente), essa racionalidade resultará na definição de uma ordem dos objetos e dos povos própria de leituras evolucionistas que definiam perspetivas ocidentalizadas e nacionalistas de poder e identidade.
A centralidade disciplinar da obra, pelo contributo fundamental que faz ao debate sobre a formação dos museus, para quem, entre outras áreas, se interessar pela história da cultura científica e das coleções que se começam a formar e a circular no século XIX, como é o meu caso, justifica um destaque permanente nas estantes.

[James R · Rating 4 out of 5]

The focus is on museums, but the author also writes on libraries, amusement parks, and fairs. People have uncritically accepted these things places as good & useful and grown up going to these places without ever giving it a thought. I remember some years ago being shamed because I wasn't familiar with art museums (I was embarrassed at the time, now I think, 'who cares?') This book has made me think about the whole concept & reasoning behind museums, public libraries, parks, and other elite social creations of the 19th & 20th centuries. The mass of people never needed these places previously, so why did they become so central to our leisure time? Why were we specifically led into these expensive elite places?

Something interesting has been happening in the last 20 years and especially since 2020: the disappearance of the museum & library. People just aren't going. I'm wondering if the elites have fully processed humanity, so these gathering spaces are no longer needed since their goals have been met. In their place, we're seeing things digitally as propaganda & distraction. With the creation of deep fakes, who knows if what you're presented is even real. It feels like we've been fully processed, going from not caring about any of this, to now staring at and believing that something we see on a screen is authentic.

I give this 4 stars because this book is 27 years old, and things change so fast that book prior to 9/11, covid, and smart phones really lose their relevance to what's happening now. Someone should really have a follow up on this book based on change since 9/11.

[Tessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik denk wel dat ik uiteindelijk begreep wat de schrijver bedoeld, maar ik heb te veel kritiek punten. Er zat geen samenhang tussen de hoofdstukken (het ware losse essays) waardoor er veel herhaling plaats vond. Het boek was te theoretisch. Hierdoor was het vaak niet te volgen terwijl dit in mijn ogen veel simpeler had gekund. Daarnaast waren de zinnen veel te lang waardoor ik de essentie van de zin kwijt raakte. Dit was gewoon niet mijn boek.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bennett examines the power dynamics of museums, fairs and international exhibitions. In dialogue with Foucault, Bennett argues that public museums are not only places of education and knowledge, but of social reform. Yet, Bennett is interested in how the power dynamic of social reform operates and whether institutional intentions are successful. For instance, he finds that while the performance platform occupied a position of surveillance, it did not exert control over urban environments. Similarly, he notes a disconnect between modern exhibitions and political representation. Bennett's use of philosophical theory and avoidance of contextualization could make this a difficult read for someone not already immersed in the discourse of museum studies literature. It is a fluid worthwhile read, but unlikely to be successful as a stand-alone text.

[Alexandra Rolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mais uma leitura da área da museologia. Tony Bennet apresenta-nos uma série de estudos de caso de vários museus e exposições à medida que fala sobre a história destes espaços públicos criados para todos como forma de combater os momentos que muitos homens passavam nos cafés a consumir álcool.
Não é uma leitura que vai agradar a qualquer pessoa mas para quem está na área é interessante ver as ideias por detrás da criação dos museus em várias zonas do globo.

in: http://livrosportodolado.blogs.sapo.p...

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh Em Jee. This book was a slog for me. There are some interesting points, but it's so painfully ... slow? in-depth? drawn out? I kept wanting to quit, but just couldn't quite bring myself to stop. But yikes, it took so long and was put aside so many times.

There's something about the way he structures sentences that make them (feel?) long and winding and looooooong. My eyes glaze over just in the span of one sentence. Over and over again.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting perspective on the history of western museums, and the prevailing mindsets and social goals associated with their development. I was disappointed in the ending. I was expecting a lovely sum-up or conclusion.

[Laura]

Mentioned on VF - discussion on the classism in relation to manners