Linking Little Narratives to Big Ones: Narrative and Public Memory in History Museums

Developing an account of the encounter between vernacular and official (Bodnar, 1992) mediational means, this paper explores some of the ways narratives about history come into dialogic contact in history museums. We argue that the history museum acts as a public forum where personal lives may be linked more or less closely to collectives through encounters among narratives produced by the museum and its visitors. Through analysis of exhibits at two museums and visitor talk in one museum, we offer a preliminary discussion of possible relationships among narratives in the negotiation of public memory.