Critical museology, (Post)Colonial communication, and the gradual mastering of traumatic pasts at the royal museum for Central Africa (RMCA)

Marouf Hasian, Rulon Wood

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

This essay provides a critical analysis of some of the public and museological debates that have swirled around the rediscovery of a Congolese holocaust. The authors of the essay highlight some of the evolutionary changes that have taken place in the exhibitions that are presented in the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) in Tervuren, Belgium, and they highlight some of the difficulties that attend the "mastering" of some complex colonial pasts. For more than a decade some harsh critics of the museum have complained about the exclusionary practices of the museum and elision of Leopoldian memories.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)128-149
Number of pages22
JournalWestern Journal of Communication
Volume74
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2010

Keywords

  • Congo Free State
  • Holocaust
  • Leopold II
  • Rhetoric
  • Royal Museum for Central Africa
  • Léopold II

EGS Disciplines

  • Communication
  • Speech and Rhetorical Studies

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