Contesting collectors and conventions. An interdisciplinary approach to analyzing narrative identity in collectors’ museums

Abstract

ABSTRACT For years, critical museology has called for museums to question and revise their narratives and praxes. Current societal discourses on representation and inclusion in cultural heritage has made this even more important. The paper argues that such revisions involve specific challenges for collectors’ museums where narratives of foundation and the founder are pivotal for institutional self-perception. Despite the relevance of critical museology’s institutional critique, the paper argues that the critique overlooks one important aspect: that change of praxis requires an understanding of how and why certain narratives become embedded in museums’ self-perception. Integrating organizational theory, psychology, and sociology with critical museology, the paper offers a new interdisciplinary perspective on the organizational mechanisms that undergird institutional conventions, canons, and embedded narratives in collectors’ museums. Finally, the paper advances the concept of resonance as a path to working constructively with tensions between museums’ historical narratives and contemporary societal issues and worldviews.