Ss Great Britain and the containment of British collective memory

Bibliographic Data

ID5700965
AuthorsDeborah M Withers (a Independent Scholar , UK, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume17
Issue3
Pages245-260
Publication date2011-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Heritage Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1352-7258 • E-ISSN: 1470-3610
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13527258.2011.557835
OpenAlexW2106404340
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited15

This article explores the Bristol‐based ss Great Britain and the heritage industry dedicated to it. It critically examines how the museum, which is based within the ship itself, allows visitors to ‘feel good’ about the history of British colonialism by acting as a container for British collective memory. It examines how the key narrative in the exhibition is structured as an affective journey of hope for a better future based primarily around the journey of British people to Australia in the mid‐nineteenth century. It is argued that it is no longer acceptable that public heritage institutions, such as the ss Great Britain, continue to represent British colonial history as a voyage of economic and personal discovery for white settlers

Archaeology · Art · Collective memory · Colonialism · Exhibition · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Public history · Sociology · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · History · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Museums and Cultural Heritage

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