A narrative analysis of personal digital collections and the modern museum

Abstract

This dissertation aims to investigate two things: a) the narrative construction properties afforded by personal digital collections made available by museums and b) the function of these invited narratives. Museums are spaces where narratives are used as a medium to convey the past and the present. This was, until a few years ago, done in a monovocal, top down way. However, the recognition of multiple truths and the need to better serve their communities has meant that museums are increasingly adopting participatory practices which give voice to their audiences; one such activity is that of the creation of personal digital collections. These are online spaces where visitors are given the opportunity of authoring their own narrative. Taking the Rijksstudio platform as an example of a space which invites such narratives, this work adopts Jerome Bruner’s and Paul Ricœur’s views of narratives as a construct and Marie Laure Ryan’s works on digital narratology, and investigates to what extent the museum still directs the narratives it invites users to author. The function that these personal narratives have for the museum that collates and encourages them is also investigated. Are these narratives countering or supporting the grand narrative at the Rijksmuseum? The function of the Rijksstudio as a site of contestation and its role as an archive of personal narratives are discussed in the second part of this dissertation. The conclusion considers whether sites such as the Rijksstudio are ultimately leading to an anti narrative environment and whether digital collections, such as the one available via the Rijksstudio, are doing away with what Ricœur calls ‘emplotment’ and how the latter may affect the museum environment as a whole.