| الوصف: |
Today, two decades after the fall of Communism, countries in Central and Eastern Europe are struggling to adapt to their independence and remember their Communist past. In this thesis, an examination of thematic and narrative trends in museums that exhibit Communism was conducted through the presentation of how exhibition design, collective memory, national identity and the politics of history interact within the museum. The methods used included a review of current literature on these subjects, a survey of Communism in museums in central-eastern Europe, and the analysis of three museum exhibitions in Latvia, Romania and Poland. It was concluded that though the legacy of Communism is too recent to fully understand, many countries still try to inform and warn the public of the past misdeeds in hope for a better future. However, the emotional response to the memories of these horrific events often overshadows the historical narrative, leaving the public unaware that other histories exist, or that the themes and narratives they have been presented with are only one part of a far more complex and contradictory story. |