The Role of Estonian National Museum in the Process of Redefining the Boundaries of National Identity

Abstract

Museums are powerful actors in the making of national identity. Through selection of objects, their spatial arrangements and storyline they open a possibility of a personal engagement with the national past. This ethnographic study analyses the new permanent exhibitions at the Estonian National Museum (reopened in October 2016) as a site where the notion of the Estonian nation, its heritage, heroes and historical memory is constructed. The main argument is that the National Museum has initiated a shift towards inclusiveness in the way Estonian national identity is constructed. The initial post-Soviet nation-building was largely based on a firm rejection of the Soviet era as a valid part of national history and employed ethnocentrism which emphasised the privileged status of ethnic Estonian nation and culture while excluding Russian speakers from the core nation. The new exhibitions rely on the language of human experience rather than placing the nation as the main actor of history. Effectively, the paper demonstrates that in this new discourse the boundaries of Estonian identity have become more permeable and adaptable in comparison with the early post-independence time.KeywordsMuseumExhibitionNation-buildingNational identityIdentity shiftIdentity boundariesEstoniaEstonian National Museum