The Witness as Object: Video Testimony in Memorial Museums

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Berghahn Books, Jan 31, 2018 - Art - 271 pages

In recent years, historical witnessing has emerged as a category of "museum object." Audiovisual recordings of interviews with individuals remembering events of historical importance are now integral to the collections and research activities of museums. They have also become important components in narrative and exhibition design strategies. With a focus on Holocaust museums, this study scrutinizes for the first time the new global phenomenon of the "musealization" of the witness to history, exploring the processes, prerequisites, and consequences of the transformation of video testimonies into exhibits.

 

Contents

Conceptual Clarifications
31
The Mediation of the Witness to History
49
Turning Communicative Memory into
71
The Witness to History as a Museum
110
Witnesses to History as Didactic
181
Conclusion
240
Index
267
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About the author (2018)

Steffi de Jong is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Cologne’s Institute for Contemporary History. She obtained her doctorate from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim and has held positions at the Humboldt-Universität in Berlin and Maastricht University. Her publications include articles in the International Handbook of Museum Studies and WerkstattGeschichte.