terms and narratives. Historical self- reassurance with sedated objects.But what is to be done once they awaken from their slumber?
It is not arbitrary objects that are on display in the room mentionedbefore, where the paneling is coming off. It is the chapter" Poverty".Self- critically, the text points to the fact that the( doubly) lowered gazeof the discipline naturally never actually referred to those at the" verybottom", that is, where the underprivileged tried to get by in their( pre-)modern lives. Two groups of objects highlight this blind spot: On theone hand, the tokenistic washing of the feet of the poor by the Habsburgregents and, on the other hand, material remnants of- tremendouslypopular- types of entertainment. Jesters, whose mockery was aimed atbeggars, cripples and lepers. Other than that, the" poor" do not figure inthis folkloric display. A people without consequences.
An Ethnology for the 21st Century
By way of citizenship, outsiders are politically separated from insiders innation states. Cultural anthropology avant la lettre, deeply influencedby the nomos of the earth( the territory) in the broadest sense, affirmedthis difference. Its regard towards identity differentiates between" one'sown" and" the other" and downright offers terminology to be used inother domains. Ethnology became aware of this in the 70s and radicallychanged its course by fighting lengthy institutional wars. This is also thereason why the" Bird of Self- Awareness" can be found in the first roomof the permanent exhibition. At the same time, it serves as the emblemof the house. Hovering above, warning us and watching over the racistatlases and Nazi devotional objects, the creature biting its own noseperforms a never- ending exorcism of its own material collection. Acathedral of self- reflexivity.
These paradoxes currently haunt many ethnological museums. Betweendecolonization and restitution, material everyday life culture and newtechnological conditions, neo- nationalism and post- national culturalheritage, between exoticism in the museums of the world and the pro-claimed demise of the museum as an institution, the retreat to self- re-flexivity and discoursive isolation increasingly creates a void in the fieldsof present and future. The" Neue Rechte"(" New Right") is already pre-paring its attack. Then our" cultural treasures" could blossom anew.
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