(24)--博物馆学概论Emotions in the History Mu.pdfVIP

14 Emotions in thE history musEum Sheila Watson Museums and galleries are places where people feel as well as think, although many museum designers and professionals tend to prioritize thinking over feeling, rationalism and objectivity over personal emotional experiences. Museums are part of a pantheon of sites which offer versions of a past that can be remembered, per­ formed, and experienced, but research into the emotional impact of these places within museum studies and heritage literature is in its infancy. This chapter will discuss some theoretical ways to understand emotional affects within the gallery space in history museums, recognizing that further research is needed to test some of the theories outlined here. It draws attention to interdisciplinary approaches that might offer further opportunities for institutional and academic research in this field. It suggests that museum studies has lagged behind social sciences in the growth of interest in affect and emotions, a movement that has signified “a more extensive ontological and epistemological upheaval, marking a moment of para­ digm change” (Wetherell 2012, 2–3). If, as it might appear, this change challenges the previous focus on discourse, text, and the disembodied voice and, instead, moves our understanding toward more process‐based research that prioritizes affect over traditional subjects of gender, class, identity, economy, and social relations (Wetherell 2012), what does this mean for museums in the future? Emotions For the purpose of this chapter we focus on the concept of emotion and its role in the museum, and on theories that help us begin to develop a conceptual method of understanding its impact on visitors. Much literature is taken up with the decon­ struction of the notion that emotions and reason ar