Sites of memory: Discourses of the past in Israeli pioneering settlement museums

Old Memories, New Histories: (Re)discovering the Past of Jewish Dalits

“…As the example of other Judaising groups demonstrates, it appears to be very much the case for communities that have embraced Jewish identity in the twentieth century. It is noteworthy that in Kothareddypalem the date changing event occurred shortly after Sadok Yacobi came back from his trip to Israel, where he would have had a chance to register the importance that reconstruction and documentation of Jewish history is accorded by the state (Katriel 1999, Abu El-Haj 2001. In the following section, we will demonstrate that the Yacobi brothers' search for the Jewish roots of the Bene Ephraim has led them to not just producing 'new' historical evidence, but also to re-negotiating community boundaries.…”

Memory and myth at the Buffalo Bill Museum

“…However, such critics, who have increasingly turned their attention to the material spaces of memory (Blair & Michael, 1999;Blair, Jeppeson, & Pucci, 1991;Dickinson, 1997;Gallagher, 1999Gallagher, , 1995Hasian, 2004;Katriel, 1994), are well positioned to understand the suasory force of history museums. Rhetorical critics bring an understanding of the interaction between texts and audiences to these sites.…”

Genesis in Hyperreality: Legitimizing Disingenuous Controversy at the Creation Museum

“…The Creation Museum stands out from formally recognized museums by taking an explicitly argumentative stance; however, museum scholarship across the humanities has recognized the rhetorical and textual qualities of museums, including those of nature and science (e.g., Atwater & Herndon, 2003;Dickinson, Ott, & Aoki, 2005Gallagher, 1999;Hasian, 2004;Katriel, 1994;King, 2006). Luke (2002) describes museums as "sites of finely structured normative argument" that emerge out of ongoing struggles between individuals and groups "to establish what is real, to organize collective interests, and to gain command over what is regarded as having authority" (p. xxiv).…”