The Interplay of Museum… 069.12 THE INTERPLAY OF MUSEUM DISCOURSE AND POPULAR CULTURE: HOW, WHEN AND WHERE HISTORY COMES ALIVE? Mina Lukić University of Belgrade, Serbia Abstract: Museum as an institution has been, throughout lated as commonsense or consensus narratives, en- history, inevitably connected with ideology, involved in trenched in the minds of the public, and they can take establishing and shaping of cultural memory, and crea- hold persistently against current scientific opinions. tion and affirmation of collective identities, based on Mass media images that museum visitors bring with scientific knowledge and interpretation of the past. them to the museum are inevitably shaping their inter- Nowadays, other, more effective media are involved in pretations of exhibitions. What happens then, when a those processes, e.g. film, which is examined in the paper museum gets involved with Hollywood industry? What as such a medium. Also, museums and media have been are the consequences of such an interaction? This pa- used for spreading different prejudices and stereotypes per’s aim is to shed some light on those consequences in – some of our identities are often based on such preju- the particular case of the AMNH.1 dices, either about our own or somebody else’s past or present. Nevertheless, museum as an institution has an Keywords: museum discourse, popular culture, collective aura of highest authority, based on scientific knowledge identities, the image of the Other, American Museum of and legitimized by museum collections. Museum is seen Natural History, Night at the Museum as trustworthy, unbiased and objective. Such privileged status of museums is argued and contested, and the complexities of museum discourse are traced through I. YOU KNOW HOW THEY SAY IN CERTAIN critical analysis of the current policy of the American MUSEUMS HISTORY COMES ALIVE? Museum of Natural History in New York and this muse- um’s participation in the production of a movie Night at “You know how they say in certain museums history the Museum (2006). As part of a “global village,” museum visitors are impacted by certain stereotypical images comes alive?” is a question posed by Larry Daley, who circulating within and outside of museums, which are a is a night watchman at the American Museum of Natu- dense package of ideas (rooted in science, folklore, ide- ral History in New York. Well, more precisely, he is a ology, politics, etc.) that thrive in cultural memory and fictional night guard, the main character in the film collective imagination. These are constructed and circu- Night at the Museum.2 Motivated by this words, I came 111 Култура / Culture, 8 /2014 up with questions, such as: How, when and where his- Egyptian artefact – golden tablet of Ahkmenrah. While tory comes alive? Whose/which history is it? struggling to figure out how to keep things under con- The AMNH itself is one of the main characters in this trol at night, Larry has to confront his predecessors – movie – the whole story unfolds within this museum’s three ex-night guards who are trying to steal the magi- walls, partially revealing the history of its artefacts and cal tablet. He convinces the exhibits to stop fighting partially its own history. Reflections this paper deliv- and work together in order to catch the thieves and ers are initiated by this fact and primarily directed regain the tablet. towards the complex relationship between museums The idea of “past coming to life” is everything but an and popular culture. I tried to inspect more closely the oddity in museum practice worldwide. The phrase dynamic interaction of science, museum institutions, itself is circulating in the social reality and is used in popular culture and collective memory, by investigat- the movie as such (“You know how they say...”). This ing current policy of the AMNH, through the analysis of “experiencing of the past”, provided by museums, is the film Night at the Museum. The film is seen and dis- also possible in the imaginary worlds of literature or cussed as an integral part and an extension of the mu- film. Each of the three involves a certain amount of seum’s discourse. fiction. As Morin observes, our relation towards the The basic premise is that the American Museum of unreal and imaginary in literature, theatre, film, etc. is Natural History has, by joining forces with Hollywood basically an aesthetic relation, the one that makes us industry, succeeded in self-promotion and self- accept the imaginary as real (even more real than real- popularization, but also helped perpetuation of some ity), while retaining the awareness of its true, artificial damaging stereotypes about other cultures, instead of nature. When immersed in fictional worlds, one pro- criticizing and questioning them. The lines that follow jects and identifies himself/herself with depicted represent an attempt to trace the reasons for such characters or situations. The amount of these projec- results of this specific interplay of museum discourse tion/identification processes that certain content ena- and popular culture and an evaluation of their compli- bles is the basis of that content’s popularity. (Moren, ance with the principles of new museology. 1979: 52-53, 68, 89-90) In museums, such processes of individual projection and identification are similar, but A. How, When And Where History Comes Alive? different in a sense that there is usually no awareness Night at the Museum is a fantasy adventure-comedy 4 film based on the 1993 children’s book, written and of the fiction inevitably involved in re-enactments/ illustrated by Milan Trenc.3 In the movie adaptation, reconstructions of the times long gone – person is the main character is Larry Daley, played by Ben Stiller. convinced that everything museum displays are facts A divorced father, who is trying to impress his 10- and reality. Those facts and ideas, absorbed as truth, year-old son, he applies for a job as a night watchman usually have a crucial impact on formation of individu- at the AMNH to subsequently discover that everything al identities and collective memory. This museum in the museum comes to life at night, owing to an quality, referred to as a “truth-speak”, is extremely 112 The Interplay of Museum… important in regard to the exhibitory practices and analysis of the Hall of Human Biology and Evolution, visual rhetoric of the AMNH. Monique Scott notices that exhibition’s texts, which Founded in 1869, the AMNH is one of the biggest notably contrasted the progress narratives encoded in American museums; it has 45 permanent exhibitions, the dioramas, usually escaped visitors’ attention be- nine of which are dedicated to the human cultures. cause of the dioramas’ dramatic force, unrivalled by Besides the original objects themselves, the museum the media accompanying it. The assertiveness of their possesses a great number of artificially produced ob- materiality and life-like presence clearly surpasses all jects and environments that accommodate them. This other forms of communication. (Scott, 2007: 10) museum’s artefacts, models and dioramas are im- When considering where, when and how history mensely popular. The reason of that popularity is fas- comes alive, we could say that it certainly happens in cinating, remarkable craftsmanship and their life-like the American Museum of Natural History, by day (in appearance, persuasiveness and realism. reality) or at night (in the movie), magically. Why mag- When standing in front of the AMNH’s dioramas, we ically? Because the described dioramas surely have instantly forget Kenneth Hudson’s familiar remark: “A captivating, hypnotic and bewitching impact, nowa- tiger in a museum is a tiger in a museum and not a days perhaps paralleled by special effects which 3D tiger.” The AMNH gave its best in the effort to per- technology provides. If we disregard some obvious suade the spectator that he/she is witnessing reality – differences that exist between the two media, they its dioramas, called habitat groups, contain a small certainly share a very specific quality – the things rep- group of animals or people in the foreground, in the resented sometimes appear more real and convincing midst of exact reproductions of plants, insects, rocks, than the reality itself. This “effect of the real” is addi- soil and painted environment in the background. But, tionally reinforced by the museum’s scientific authori- these animals are represented in perfect, artificial ty, which entertainment industry doesn’t possess. By realities, such as we could never see in the real nature. borrowing its own authority to the film, the AMNH (Haraway, 1984-1985: 23-25) The representation of gave legitimization to the movie narrative itself, con- foreign cultures and reconstructions of their everyday sequently strengthening certain stereotypes about lives also lack an indication of constructedness. The other cultures. So, a more important question apropos artificiality of dioramas is disguised by their “effect of the subject of “history coming alive” in this context the real” and their aesthetic appeal – this realistic ef- appears to be: Whose/which history is it? fect is a form of “truth-speak”, of a “discourse that claims the truth to which the viewer is asked to submit, B. Whose/Which History is it? endorsing the willing suspension of disbelief that rules This question brings us to the nature of the AMNH the power of fiction”. (Bal, 1996: 16, 22) itself, its own heritage and its discourse. Museums are The following example illustrates how powerful and not the sites of unified discourses - the stratified layers convincing is this effect of the real at the AMNH. In her of their own past persist in the present. The AMNH is 113 Култура / Culture, 8 /2014 described by Mieke Bal as “a product of colonialism in zation and its Others, opposition between the West and the a postcolonial era”.