A Critique of "Place" through Field Museum's Pacific Exhibits
| dc.contributor.author | Rodman, Margaret Critchlow | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2009-10-30T00:10:48Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2009-10-30T00:10:48Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1993 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The overall objective of this article is to critique approaches to the study of place through consideration of selected museum exhibits. The form of the article is somewhat experimental. It is a narrative journey with three stops along the way. At one level the article is about a visit to the Pacific Halls at Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, focusing on three exhibits. At another level, reflection on these exhibits is intended to critique the use of the concept of "place" in contemporary anthropology. The concept of "social landscape," introduced through a discussion of latmul (Papua New Guinea) ceremonial houses, is the first stop in this critical tour. Next, a Disneyfied Tahitian marketplace in the museum provides the focus for a critique of the representation of places and a reminder of the political dimensions of evocation. The article concludes with a visit to the basement of the museum where a New Zealand Maori meetinghouse is stored. There I consider irony as a device for conveying other ways of understanding power associated with places, both in museums like Field and in the field of anthropology. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Rodman, M. C. 1993. A Critique of "Place" through Field Museum's Pacific Exhibits. The Contemporary Pacific 5 (2): 243-74. | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1043-898X | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10125/12921 | |
| dc.language.iso | en-US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Hawai'i Press | |
| dc.publisher | Center for Pacific Islands Studies | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Oceania -- Periodicals. | |
| dc.title | A Critique of "Place" through Field Museum's Pacific Exhibits | |
| dc.type | Article | |
| dc.type.dcmi | Text |
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