(Re)Historicization of the past at the Royal Newfoundland Regiment gallery of The Rooms

Sarwar, Nadia (2019) (Re)Historicization of the past at the Royal Newfoundland Regiment gallery of The Rooms. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis investigates the representation of history about Newfoundlanders’ contribution to the First World War in The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery at The Rooms. Taking an ethnographic approach and focusing on the representation of war history in a provincial museum setting, I discuss the museum as an institution of power that functions through constructing, presenting and circulating certain ideological messages among visitors, volunteers and staff members. Elaborating on The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery of The Rooms as a representational space, I demonstrate how the stories and displays of the exhibit have been placed in provincially legitimized representations to derive a particular understanding of the past. Finding a relation between myth and memory, this research further examines The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery as a site of fabricating public memory, a place of providing history education as well as a space of constructing national and place identity. Finally, considering the functioning of the produced ideological messages and identifying visitors’, volunteers’ and staff members’ perspectives, this thesis asserts the importance of addressing alternative narratives in addition to producing grand narratives while representing history in a museum setting.

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