Lithuanian genocide heritage as discursive formation

Abstract

This paper presents a synthesis of Foucault's Archaeology of Knowledge and the concept of discursive formation to critique museums and sites of memory as spaces in which competing discourses of cultural identity emerge. The research context is the troublesome place of genocide and victimhood in discourses of occupation in Lithuanian museums and sites of memory. Analysis suggests that these exhibitions produce a rarefied field of knowledge around the ideas and concepts that they reveal, and, as discursive tourism texts, they play a role in maintaining the cultural identity of Lithuania. The contribution offers a novel, post-structuralist framework for understanding exhibitions as sites of discourse production, since it is the first study to deploy the ideas from Archaeology of Knowledge into an analysis of specific heritage sites.

Politics of memories: Identity construction in museums

“…Nations can be considered from a postmodernist perspective as a discourse, which frames a way of seeing and interpreting the world (Özkirimli, 2010). This fluid and dynamic way of approaching nations signifies that collective memories embedded within heritage sites discursively formulate a way of speaking that shapes our consciousness (Calhoun, 1997;Wight, 2016). Memory-making in heritage sites thus not only reflects the meaning of national belonging, but produces and maintains such meaning over time.…”

“…This section is also the most commonly discussed topic on both Dianping and TripAdvisor, indicating the interest visitors have in the role of the war in Hong Kong's past (Park, 2011). Although shared victimhood in a colonial period stimulates emotions (White, 1995;Wight, 2016), such narratives and anti-Western imperialism are downplayed here (Carroll, 2007;Lau, 1997). Despite the exhibition of objects like the statue of the Chinese hero, LIN Zexu, and the "Trade to War" video narrative, the failure of the war is associated with the Qing government corruption.…”

Putting Foucault to work in tourism research

“…The hunches or hypotheses that are made about discourse must be tested using an appropriate analytical method. Powers (, p.64) also suggests that discourse analysts tend to anticipate that their work might “raise the consciousness” of both the reader and of the stakeholders practising within the context of the discourse that is analysed, in many cases to “ … reduce oppression and provide alternate speaking positions.” Simply put, there may be a poetical or cultural agenda underpinning the analysis undertaken (Wight, ). One of the dangers suggested by this limitation is that resistant discourses can become co‐opted or remain unseen by those for whom the analysis is intended.…”

“…KEYWORDS applied discourse theory, discursive analytic, Foucault, post-structuralism, tourism and heritage research 1 | INTRODUCTION Developments over recent decades in areas such as textual linguistics and, more broadly, in the interdisciplinary study of discourse offer great potential in terms of their application to analyses of a range of research contexts where the aim is to understand the uses and implications of texts. As part of this movement, discourse analysis that follows the work of Michel Foucault has evolved as a useful methodology in specific enquiry, not only in disciplines such as healthcare (Fadyl, Nicholls, & McPherson, 2013) but also in cultural studies and tourism (see O'Donnell & Spires, 2012;Wight, 2016).…”

Cultural Heritage as a Basis for Development of Tourism (As Exemplified by a Small Town in Central Europe)

“…Cultural heritage is successfully used in the strategies of tourism development. The elements of cultural heritage are often cited as tourist attractions that form the basis of leisure-and recreation-related tourism or education (Poria et al, 2003;Kowarik et al, 2016;Fajer et al, 2016), including as part of the so-called dark tourism (Miles, 2002;Stone & Sharpley, 2008;Causevic & Lynch, 2011;Kang et al, 2012;Wight, 2016;Płomiński & Bakota, 2017). Adaptation of the elements of cultural heritage in tourism usually refers to large objects or groups of objects, and is rarely the domain of small towns.…”