Translating Cultures in Museums: When not Only Words, but People, are Translated

Abstract

[Abstract] Museums possess, represent and interpret others’ culture, raising important questions on ownership and the authority of their conduct. The act of translating cultures is one of the prime modes through which history is rewritten and knowledge is constructed: through a selected representation of a given culture – its translation, indeed – museums give their version of the past, commemorating what is chosen to be commemorated. Museums construct and propose spaces of meanings in which other cultures and their stories are intelligible to visitors. However, it is time to capsize the interpretative perspective, and let the narrated become the narrator.