Английский язык. Хрестоматия по чтению специальных текстов «Famous World Museums» для студентов 1-2 курсов специальности 070503 «Музейное дело» дневно

Министерство культуры РФ ФГОУ ВПО «Кемеровский государственный университет

культуры и искусств» Социально-гуманитарный институт Кафедра иностранных языков

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК

Хрестоматия по чтению специальных текстов

«Famous World Museums»

по специальности 070503 «Музейное дело»

Кемерово 2009

ВВЕДЕНИЕ

Хрестоматия предназначена для студентов дневного и заочного отделения специальности 070503 «Музейное дело»

Цель хрестоматии: получение дополнительной информации по специальности из сборника аутентичных текстов.

Задачей хрестоматии является закрепление, развитие и совершенствование навыков чтения и перевода текстов. Тексты сопровождаются примечаниями, снимающие экстралингвистические трудности.

Тексты представляют интересную и актуальную информацию об истории музейного дела, известных и специфических музеях мира, в том числе музеях Великобритании, США, Канады, Австралии, Новой Зеландии, России, что способствует развитию лингвострановедческой и коммуникативной компетенции студентов в изучении музейного дела этих стран.

Содержание текстов повышает эрудицию студентов, пополняют их знания в области мирового музейного дела, заполняют лакуны в информации, получаемой студентами на родном языке. Тематическая направленность текстов представляет возможность сопоставительного анализа состояния музейного дела, структуры и экспозиции музеев мира и, в первую очередь, англоязычных стран.

Хрестоматия сопровождена англо-русским словарем, терминологического и контекстуального характера. В конце хрестоматии дан список использованной литературы и словарей.

Part I Introduction: History of museums

As institutions, museums may reveal remarkable diversity in form, content, and even function, but all museums have as common goals the preservation and interpretation of material aspects of society's cultural consciousness. Traditionally, and in the normally accepted sense of the term, a museum holds the primary tangible evidence of aspects of man and his environment. In this it differs markedly from the library, with which it is often associated, because the items housed in museums are mainly unique and constitute the raw materials of study and research. In the museum the object,

3

which in many cases has been removed in time, place, and circumstance from its original context, communicates itself directly to the viewer, in a way not possible through other interpretive media.

Museums have been founded and developed for a variety of purposes: as recreational facilities, as educational resources, or as means of contributing to the quality of life of an area; or to attract tourism to a region, to promote civic pride or nationalistic endeavour, or even to transmit overtly ideological concepts.

History of museums

The word museum has classical origins. In its Greek form, mouseion, it meant «seat of the Muses» and designated a philosophical institution or a place of contemplation. Use of the Latin derivation, museum, appears to have been restricted in Roman times mainly to places of philosophical discussion. Thus the great museum at Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy I (the 3rd century bc), with its college of scholars and its library, was more a prototype university than an institution to preserve and interpret material aspects of the heritage. The word museum was revived in 15th-century Europe to describe the collection of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, but the term conveyed the concept of comprehensiveness rather than denoting a building. During the Enlightenment the term carried an encyclopaedic connotation in book titles to indicate comprehensiveness of coverage. By the 17th century museum was being used in Europe to describe collections of curiosities. Ole Worm's collection in Copenhagen was so called, and in England visitors to John Tradescant's collection in Lambeth (now a London borough) called the array there a museum; the catalog of this collection, published in 1656, was titled Musaeum Tradescanlianum. In 1675 the collection, having become the property of Elias Ashmole, was transferred to the University of Oxford, and the building constructed to receive it, opened to the public in 1683, became known as the Ashmolean Museum. Although there is some ambivalence in the use of museum in the legislation, drafted in 1753, founding the British Museum, nevertheless the idea of an institution called a museum and established to preserve and display a collection owned by and opened to the public was fairly common in the 18th century. Indeed, Denis Diderot outlined a detailed scheme for a national museum for France in the ninth volume of his Encyclopedie, published in 1765.

4

Use of the word museum during the 19th and most of the 20th century denoted a building housing cultural material to which the public had access. Later, as museums continued to respond to the societies that created them, the emphasis on the building itself became less dominant. Open-air museums, comprising a series of buildings preserved as objects, and ecomuseums, comprising large outdoor environments, were introduced as new ways to display objects, cultures, and concepts.

Along with the identification of a clear role for museums in society there gradually developed a body of theory, the study of which is known as museology. For many reasons the development of this theory was not rapid. Museum personnel were nearly always experienced and trained in a discipline related to a particular collection, and therefore had little understanding of the museum as a whole, its operation, and its role in society. As a result the emphasis of their work tended toward the individual disciplines, and the practical aspects of museum work, such as con servation and display, were achieved through borrowing from other disciplines and techniques, whether or not they particularly met the requirements of the museum and its public.

Thus not only was the development of theory slow, but the theory's practical applications–known as museography–fell far short of expectations. Museums suffered from a conflict of purpose, with a resulting lack of clear identity. Further, the apprenticeship method of training for museum work gave little opportunity for the introduction of new ideas. This situation prevailed until other organizations began to coordinate, develop, and promote museums. In some cases, museums came to be organized partly or totally as a government service; in others, professional associations were formed, while an added impetus arose where universities and colleges took on responsibilities for museum training and research.

Some of the oldest established museums in Europe, such as the British Museum, the Louvre, and the Hermitage, each regularly attract more than 3,000,000 visitors a year, and some of the science and technology museums are even more popular. Many of the visitors are tourists and governments, particularly in certain European countries, recognize the value of museums in attracting foreign visitors and acknowledge the museums' contribution to the economy.

Among other factors that have contributed to the development of museums is an increased awareness of the environment and the need to

5

preserve it. Many sites of scientific significance have been preserved and interpreted, sometimes under the aegis of a national park service, and historic sites and buildings have been restored and used as museums. This has led to the development of historic and natural landscapes as museums, such as the renovation of Mystic Seaport in Connecticut as a maritime museum, the use of Ironbridge Gorge as a museum to interpret the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in England, and the restoration of the walled medieval cities at Suzdal and Vladimir in Russia. In Australia the heyday of the gold rush has been re-created in the form of the Sovereign Hill Historical Park, at the goldmining town of Ballarat. Goree, a small island off the Senegal coast that served as a major enter port for the Atlantic slave trade, has been restored as a historic site with a number of supporting museums. Another related development was the ecomuseum, such as the Musee de 1'Homme et de 1'Industrie at Le Creusot-Montceau-les-Mines in France1. Here a bold experiment involves the community as a whole, rather than specialists, in interpreting the human and natural environment, thereby generating a better understanding among its inhabitants of the reasons for cultural, social, and environmental charge. Some of these projects have involved the acquisition and preservation of massive artifacts, but perhaps no undertaking has been as spectacular as the recovery from the seabed of ships such as the Vasa, the Song dynasty ship from Quanzhou, the Mary Rose, now preserved in museums in Sweden, China, England, and Germany, respectively.

A feature of contemporary museum development has been the initiative taken by local groups and individuals in their concern to preserve the past of their communities. This movement can be found in both the East and the West and in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Public concern, however, does not mean that governments have been inactive. Many of the older museums have been refuted and extended to meet more exacting requirements for the preservation of cultural property and to provide better facilities for visitors. A number of new major museums have also been built. Australia opened its National Gallery of Art in Canberra in 1982. And the National Gallery of Victoria has been developed as part of Melbourne's arts complex. In Paris the Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou (Centre Beaubourg)2 combines a gallery of modern art and special exhibition galleries with other cultural activities. The Museum of London, amalgamating the collections of two previous museums, has been built to tell the story of the capital and its

6

immediate environs. The magnificent Museo Nacional de Antropologia, just one of a fine complex of museums in Mexico City, displays the country's archaeological richness, while additions to the Smithsonian's museums in Washington, D.C., have included the National Air and Space Museum and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. In Uzbekistan the State Historical Museum in Tashkent and in Russia the V.I. Lenin House and Museum in Simbirsk are but two of many newer museum buildings. Many buildings of historical significance also have been adapted to house museums. Among these is the Gare d'Orsay3, formerly a major railroad station, in Paris, redeveloped as a national museum of the 19th century.

Nor have developments been restricted to the industrialized countries. A desire to preserve their local history has led many Caribbean islands to establish small museums. Several African nations also have given high priority to the provision of museums. Museums have been established in the principal cities of

Nigeria by its National Museums and Monuments Commission to assist in developing cultural identity and promoting national unity. The Jos Museum, one of the earliest of these, also administers a museum of traditional buildings, while others have developed work shops where traditional crafts can be demonstrated. Crafts are also a feature of the National Museum in Niamey, Niger, and products of these workshops are exported to Europe and North America.

1.Musee de 1'Homme et de 1'Industrie at Le Creusot-Montceau-les-Mines in France –

Музей шахтного оборудования во Франции.

2.Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou (Centre Beaubourg) –

Национальный культурный центрЖоржа Помпиду в Париже.

3.Gare d'Orsay – музей – вокзал Орсе в Париже

Part II

Types of Museums

With their diverse origins, varying philosophies, and differing roles in society, museums do not lend themselves to rigid classification. Nevertheless it is convenient, for a variety of purposes, to group them, and the classification can be based either on source of funding or on the nature of collections. Classifying museums by source of funding, however, fails to indicate the

7

character of their collections. For example, institutions funded by the national government–national museums–may hold outstanding international collections, as do the British Museum, the Hermitage, and the Louvre; may hold special collections, as do a number of the national museums of antiquities on the European continent; or may have an essentially local character, as does the Smithsonian's Anacostia Neighborhood Museum in Washington. D.C. An analysis of museums based on the nature of their collections, on the other hand, although it fails to indicate the wide disparities of scale and quality, does have the merit of distinguishing between the general and the specialized museum. The most common classification scheme distinguishes among general, art, history, and science museums.

GENERAL MUSEUMS

Many of the general museums were founded in the 18th, 19th, or early 20th century. Most originated in earlier private collections and reflected the encyclopedic spirit of the times. Certain general museums reflect the influence of cultural contact made through trade. Some museums hold a number of important specialized collections that would qualify them to be grouped in more than one category of specialization. This is true particularly of many of the large general museums, which may have collections in one or more fields equal to if not exceeding both the quantity and quality of material exhibited in a specialized museum. Some national museums display general collections within their main building; indeed many commenced in this fashion, but the necessity of finding additional space later caused a division of the collections and encouraged the growth of specialized museums. Although this is a logical division to make, particularly in an institution that emphasizes scholarly work in the traditional disciplines, it can result in arbitrary decisions, particularly with multivalent artifacts that may contribute, for example, to historic, technological, and aesthetic understanding.

Most common among general museums are those that serve a region or a locality. Many of these owe their foundation to civic pride and a desire to promote knowledge of the area. They are widespread in Eastern and Western Europe and are found as well in India, Australia, New Zealand, and North and South America. Their prime responsibility is to reflect the natural and human history, traditions and creative spirit of the area. In many cases the community thus served is culturally homogeneous, but where it is not, the museum may

8

develop specific programs to foster mutual understanding among the diverse peoples. In cities that have a sizable immigrant population, such as, for example, Bradford or Leicester in England, the regional museum has engaged actively in such work. Where the regional museums form part of a state museum network, and sometimes also in separately administered regional museums, special exhibitions prepared by the national museum or other agencies provide opportunities for the community to appreciate the wider aspects of the national or even international heritage.

The general museum, particularly at the regional or local level, faces severe problems because of the high cost of employing the large numbers of specialists necessary to care for the variety of collections involved, particularly if a strong research program is maintained. In some museums research has diversified as curators, particularly in archaeology, history, and the natural sciences, have agreed to advise planners and developers considering projects for sites of historical interest. Other general museums have maintained their more traditional roles but have concentrated their efforts on public services, as at the Kanazawa Bunko Museum, Yokohama, Japan, where a multidisciplinary approach is apparent in its exhibitions. Among other developments fostered by many regional and local museums are the erection of on-site museums to interpret archaeological or natural features; the provision of heritage centres, particularly in urban areas, to tell the story of an aspect of the historic environment; or, as an extramural activity of the museum, the development of town landmark trails and nature trails.

Certain museums provide for a particular audience, often acquiring general collections to suit the purpose. One of these is the children's museum (also well attended by adults), well-known examples of which are the Brooklyn Children's Museum, New York City; the Children's Museum, Boston; the National Children's Museum of New Delhi; and the Mont Riant Children's Museum of Algiers.

ART MUSEUMS

The art museum (called an art gallery in some places) is concerned primarily with the object as a means of unaided communication with its visitors. Aesthetic value is therefore a major consideration in accepting items for the collection. Traditionally these collections have comprised paintings, sculpture, and the decorative arts. A number of art museums have included the

9

industrial arts since the 19th century, when they were introduced, particularly to encourage good industrial design. The collection of so-called primitive art is of more recent origin and has had a profound influence on certain forms of 20th-century art, but it can be argued that aesthetics have subordinated function and association to such an extent that primitive pieces are often presented in a totally alien context. In some countries this criticism applies to archaeological material as well.

The display of works of art presents the curator with certain problems. Works of art are exhibited to convey a visual message. While other disciplines tend to adopt didactic methods of display, as in a history panorama or a demonstration of technique, the art curator is concerned particularly with unimpeded presentation of a given work. The ambience of the work is enhanced by highlighting its form and colour with proper lighting and background. Artificial light was at one time preferred for paintings, both to create an effect and to prevent exposure to harmful elements in natural light, but it sometimes provides an unnecessarily theatrical presentation or creates an artificiality that can inhibit the visitor's appreciation or enjoyment of the work. Much greater use is now made of indirect natural light or, as at the Tate Gallery, London, of a controlled mixture of daylight and simulated daylight. Some art museums have returned to the earlier custom of hanging paintings in a tiered arrangement in order to exhibit more of their works.

The search for context has led to the design of period settings in which to present certain art objects, to the development of furnished period-house museums, and to the preservation of country houses and other appropriate properties, together with their contents, in situ. In a specialized context, the restoration of the Moscow Kremlin, particularly the Great Palace and the churches with their fine murals and icons, provides an example of this approach. Some of the churches are open to the public as museums. Some art museums have introduced other visual and performing arts–music, film, video, or theatre–to facilitate or enhance interpretation; others operate artist-in- residence programs for the same purpose.

Another factor in the display of art objects concerns their continued preservation. Because of the sensitivity of some of the materials used in their creation it is necessary to control within narrow limits the temperature, humidity, and lighting to which they are exposed. In addition, sophisticated security precautions are necessary for items of high value.

10