Progrès et patrimoine, questions d'identité et de représentation : une étude de trois musées ethnographiques dans les Pyrénées occidentales françaises
Progrès et patrimoine, questions d'identité et de représentation : une étude de trois musées ethnographiques dans les Pyrénées occidentales françaises
In this thesis, theories of identity and semiotics are applied to the discourse of three enthographic museums in the western French Pyrenees in order to ascertain what image is projected by their exhibitions of certain aspects of Pyrenean culture, how this image is formed, what purpose this image might serve, and whether the minority communities concerned might use the same materials to project an image which serves their interests. These museums are analysed in terms of the political, economic and cultural circumstances in which they were conceived and elaborated, in order to establish their original purpose. They are then examined in the light of the present situation, that of the construction of the European Union, and the tensions between the desire for material progress on the one hand, and on the other, disillusionment with the notion of linear progress, awareness of the need for a sustainable economy and the realisation that quality of life need not depend on material progress.
The inhabitants of two Pyrenean valleys in particular, the Vallée d'Aspe and the Vallée d'Ossau, the upper parts of which are within the boundaries of a national park, and through one of which a wide road is under construction to improve transport links between Spain and northern Europe, are caught in the cross-fire between ecologists and proponents of material progress.
The inhabitants of mountainous areas have always fascinated town-dwellers and descriptions of them portray them either as ideal human beings, or as the opposite of ideal, according to the motivations of those who create the image, motivations that tend to correspond to the needs of the dominant social group.
The most recent of the three museums studied appears to represent an attempt to create an image more in keeping with the perception that the community in which it is situated has of itself. This thesis demonstrates that, although this is a positive step, it is insufficient, that the enthographic museum, including the ecomuseum, is inadequate as a means of projecting a positive image of a community, as it is incapable of addressing the complex and rapidly changing issues in which any community is involved.
University of Southampton
Todd, Eric Andrew
2c3624b8-5bf6-4fcb-ab43-fb4a5757026b
1997
Todd, Eric Andrew
2c3624b8-5bf6-4fcb-ab43-fb4a5757026b
Todd, Eric Andrew
(1997)
Progrès et patrimoine, questions d'identité et de représentation : une étude de trois musées ethnographiques dans les Pyrénées occidentales françaises.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
In this thesis, theories of identity and semiotics are applied to the discourse of three enthographic museums in the western French Pyrenees in order to ascertain what image is projected by their exhibitions of certain aspects of Pyrenean culture, how this image is formed, what purpose this image might serve, and whether the minority communities concerned might use the same materials to project an image which serves their interests. These museums are analysed in terms of the political, economic and cultural circumstances in which they were conceived and elaborated, in order to establish their original purpose. They are then examined in the light of the present situation, that of the construction of the European Union, and the tensions between the desire for material progress on the one hand, and on the other, disillusionment with the notion of linear progress, awareness of the need for a sustainable economy and the realisation that quality of life need not depend on material progress.
The inhabitants of two Pyrenean valleys in particular, the Vallée d'Aspe and the Vallée d'Ossau, the upper parts of which are within the boundaries of a national park, and through one of which a wide road is under construction to improve transport links between Spain and northern Europe, are caught in the cross-fire between ecologists and proponents of material progress.
The inhabitants of mountainous areas have always fascinated town-dwellers and descriptions of them portray them either as ideal human beings, or as the opposite of ideal, according to the motivations of those who create the image, motivations that tend to correspond to the needs of the dominant social group.
The most recent of the three museums studied appears to represent an attempt to create an image more in keeping with the perception that the community in which it is situated has of itself. This thesis demonstrates that, although this is a positive step, it is insufficient, that the enthographic museum, including the ecomuseum, is inadequate as a means of projecting a positive image of a community, as it is incapable of addressing the complex and rapidly changing issues in which any community is involved.
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Published date: 1997
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Local EPrints ID: 463279
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/463279
PURE UUID: d1519365-73e9-4072-906d-bae57271fcd5
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 20:48
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 19:03
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Author:
Eric Andrew Todd
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