Obraz traditsionnoi kul’tury v istoricheskom muzee: proizvodstvo, osobennosti i funktsii

Abstract

The author draws on the outcome of participant-observation based research in the Zaryadye Chambers (State Historical Museum, Moscow) to discuss the ways in which the image of tradition is constructed and produced in the museum. He examines the factors involved in the production of this image and its specific facets. The author further makes an inquiry into the issue of authenticity of reconstruction in the museum setting, considering it from the standpoint of its functions and viewing it from the pragmatic rather than mimetic perspective. He argues that the themes of tradition and folklore are particularly influential in shaping the image of the past represented in the museum.