Tamar Katriel, Performing the past: A study of Israeli settlement museums. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997. Pp. x, 172. Hb $45.00, pb $24.50.

Abstract

In this excellent study of guided tours through two Israeli kibbutz museums, Tamar Katriel comments that for her, “tracing the construction of Israeli culture is as much an act of recognition as it is one of deconstruction” (p. 116). Katriel, a native Israeli Jew, is telling us that for her, moving through these museums, looking at the exhibits, and listening to the guides is an emotional experience. The recognition of which Katriel writes is, one may say, that moment of connectivity in which one orients oneself to person, space, and time in ways that evoke (perhaps suddenly) an awareness that is related to one's very sense of self. The intersection of person, space, and time creates place and the emotions associated with it. When these moments of intersection occur in museums, the practice of taking objects out of their native contexts and infusing them with the purpose of presence within exhibits is successful. The purpose of guides in these museums is to create this sense of place within the people who visit these sites, to engender recognition within these visitors, even if they know little or nothing of the representations that constitute exhibits. Creating the feeling-tones of place is at the heart of guiding in these museums; and the narration of representations is the primary medium through which recognition is evoked.