Museums, Nations, Identities

Wales and Its National Museums

Author(s) Rhiannon Mason

Language: English

Genre(s): Welsh Interest

  • July 2007 · 256 pages ·216x138mm

  • · Hardback - 9780708319727

About The Book

This fascinating book explores the different ways in which Wales and Welshness have been represented in the national museums of Wales. Beginning with the proposal for the creation of a National Museum in the 1880s and ending with devolution, the book examines how branches of the National Museums and Galleries of Wales have been, and are currently, enlisted to narrate certain national stories as opposed to others, and how this correlates with changing perceptions of Welsh identities in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In the process, the study demonstrates the important roles that museums play in shaping a society's view of its past, its present and its national identities.

Endorsements

' ... clearly based on extensive, meticulous, thoughtful research and will be a major contribution to our understanding of a much neglected field.' J. Graham Jones, National Library of Wales'Mason's book is clearly written and devoid of jargon, making it accessible to all of the major audiences intended for this book. Those who have visited one of the museums she analyzes will gain a greater appreciation for what these museums provide, and it makes those who have not gone to any of the branches of the National Museum of Wales look forward to a time when they can indeed go.'Richard Haesly, Nation and Nationalism, Volume 14, Number 3, July 2008

About the Author(s)

Author(s): Rhiannon Mason

Rhiannon Mason is Professor of Heritage & Cultural Studies at Newcastle University.

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