Other People's Pain: Trauma and Testimony in Australian Museums
Other People’s Pain: trauma and testimony in Australian museums Joanna Ruth Besley Bachelor of Design Studies A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2018 School of Social Science Abstract This thesis examines how testimony has emerged as a key strategy for representing and interpreting the past in contemporary museums, particularly in the context of traumatic histories. When testimony appears in exhibitions, personal trauma becomes public memory. The thesis asks of this transformation: how, why and with what effects? Through three case studies, the thesis explores how traumatic testimony is curated and encountered in exhibitions. In deploying testimony, museums seek not only to give recognition to those who have experienced traumatic pasts and advance human rights claims, but also to solicit empathic, ethical response and action on the part of audiences. Now positioned as witnesses to traumatic testimony, museum visitors are challenged to feel, acknowledge and take responsibility for the suffering of others. Empathy is widely accepted to be the vehicle through which this takes place. My research critically examines the social, political and ethical consequences of these new museological strategies and claims. As such, its aims are twofold. Firstly, the research contributes to a critical examination of contemporary museum practice, highlighting how some contemporary museums, in taking on the responsibility of “working through” traumatic histories, are intervening in issues with high political, ethical and social stakes and positioning themselves as agents of social inclusion and advocacy, even activism. Secondly, it aims to make a theoretical contribution about how testimony impacts upon the ways that museums shape and consolidate collective narratives and understandings of the past, especially regarding contested or suppressed histories.
[Show full text]