Musealisation of the socialist legacy: Anthropological analysis of the Museum of Yugoslav history

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to show the ways in which socialist legacies were constructed through museum practices. The paper focuses on the importance and meaning of gifts to socialist leaders and the representation of gifts received by Tito in Belgrade's Museum of Yugoslav History. Starting with usual Foucauldian readings of museums and museum narratives in new museology, the paper moves to new readings of classical anthropological theories of gifts and Michael Herzfeld's theory of cultural intimacy and offers a more anthropologically grounded analysis of the Museum's narrative. Concentrating on the House of Flowers - Tito's former winter garden and the place of his tomb where the current permeant exhibition is placed, it is concluded that both former socialist and contemporary Serbian state is encompassed by a singular museum narrative, whose meaning is brought out through the shared cultural intimacy of its visitors.

Ovaj rad ima za cilj da pokaže načine na koje se socijalističko nasleđe konstruiše kroz muzejsku praksu. Rad se fokusira na značaj i značenje poklona koje su primali socijalistički lideri i njihovu muzeološku institucionalizaciju u Muzeju istorije Jugoslavije. Koristeći nova čitanja klasičnih antropoloških koncepata dara i kulturne intimnosti, rad se nadovezuje na uobičajena tumačenja muzejskih postavki tzv. nove muzeologije i nudi dodatni pogled na načine na koje se konstruiše muzejski narativ. U radu se zaključuje da kroz savremenu stalnu postavku u Kući cveća, nekadašnja jugoslovenska socijalistička država i savremena srpska država bivaju obuhvaćene jedinstvenim muzejskim narativom, koji pripada specifičnom korpusu kulturne intimnosti.