Mobilizing Affect for Collective War Memory

Taking a cue from recent works that assert the importance of affect in politics and critical theory, this paper examines affective strategies employed at Yūshūkan, a war museum attached to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Although its revisionist historiography has been generally discredited by historians, over the last decade Yūshūkan has established itself as a key public site for neo-nationalist war memory in Japan. This paper argues that to understand Yūshūkan's appeal we need to address the affective economy it produces around the stories and images of the fallen soldiers. In particular, I analyse the image of kamikaze as a ‘sticky object of emotion’ and ‘somatic marker’ that is both emotionally charged and culturally mobilized. I examine several factors that contribute to its affective capacity: the culturally specific trope of the tragic hero and the aesthetics of self-sacrifice; an emphasis on their ‘ordinariness’ as fathers and sons; and the naturalized, almost moral expectation of the current generations' indebtedness and gratitude to the war dead. A close reading of the museum exhibits, catalogue, website and visitor books suggests that Yūshūkan's rhetorical force relies on the kamikaze icon's ability to arouse visceral and intense emotions. Produced at the intersection of affect and discourse, history and memory, kamikaze is a heavily loaded sign central to Yūshūkan's affective and sub-discursive mode of communication. By illustrating how Yūshūkan mobilizes subjects into its patriotic history and identity via emotional authenticity, I hope to add an alternative approach to the current scholarship that predominantly focuses on the discursive content of Yūshūkan's historiography or religious-spiritual function of mourning. More generally it is also hoped that this study will contribute to thinking through the role of affect in collective war memory by offering a culturally and historically specific case study.     

汨罗构筑“屈子遗产露天博院”的原由、目标及走向

"屈子遗产露天博物院"是基于守望遗产的时代使命、不留遗憾的发展理念、资源价值的独特发现等多种因素叠加后,提出的一个关于屈子祠的全新发展概念,其终极目标是要构建一个以复活屈原、走进楚辞、领略南楚风貌为主的露天式的、开放式的博物院,为高扬屈原、传承屈原提供一处独特的文化高地,为未来汨罗申报世界文化遗产奠定总体布局。尽管路途漫漫,但只要信念坚定、思路对头、目标明确、趋利避害,一届接一届、一代接一代地干,汨罗就能建成具有世界影响力的华夏民族的精神家园。     

论博物馆与大众的终身教育

飞速发展的时代,对博物馆充分发挥教育功能提出了更高的要求。大众教育、特别是终身教育成为博事业发展的重要议题。但毋庸讳言,就目前状况看,我们在该方面的表现并不尽如人意,并且其重藏、重术、轻展的现状已成了深化博物馆教育功能的阻碍。     

博物馆与城市文化建设

城市文化是城市的灵魂,是城市历史发展的文脉。城市文化在全球化背景下,在民族意识与全球意识相互交融的变革中不断创新,不断进步。博物馆文化是城市文化的重要组成部分,是城市文化的重要载体,见证并凝聚了城市发展的历程,记忆着人类文明发展的脉络,保护着历史的延续性,传承着民族的优秀文化,从更高视界和更宽层面来认识博物馆文化在城市文化发展中的作用有着重要的现实意义。     

民族高校博物馆铸牢中华民族共同体意识的优势及实践研究——以西南民族大学民族博物馆为例

民族高校博物馆是铸牢中华民族共同体意识的重要基地，在铸牢各族师生中华民族共同体意识方面有着不可替代的作用。民族高校博物馆丰富的馆藏资源是体现中华民族共同体意识的优秀载体；民族高校博物馆的科学研究功能可以助力中华民族共同体意识的研究；民族高校博物馆的陈列展览可以让束之高阁的科学研究转化为普及化的知识体系，成为展示中华民族多元一体格局的重要窗口；民族高校博物馆还可以通过博物馆的宣传教育，让更多的观众加深对中华民族共同体的理论认知。在新的历史时期，民族高校博物馆应充分发挥独特优势，在文化育人实践活动中、在举办展览传承优秀传统文化实践活动中多措并举铸牢广大师生的中华民族共同体意识。