Addressing the Histories and Legacies of Colonialism in Romantic-period Literary House Museums: Dove Cottage and Beyond

在浪漫主义时期的文学博物馆中探讨殖民主义的历史和遗产：鸽子小屋及其他博物馆

• 批准号: AH/X011852/1
• 负责人: Simon John Julian Bainbridge
• 金额: $ 4.51万
• 依托单位: Lancaster University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FX011852%2F1
• 关键词: Addressing; Histories; Legacies; Colonialism; Romantic

This network will bring together academics, museum personnel, consultants, stakeholders and community groups to investigate the colonial links of Romantic-period literary house museums and consider how best to interpret these links for a wider public. There is currently fierce public debate about how heritage sites and museums can best understand and represent the complex histories of the locations and objects they preserve. This debate creates a particular challenge for researching and curating literary house museums of the Romantic period (c. 1780-1830), an era when 'colonialism, in the form of exploratory initiatives, commercial enterprises and migratory settlement on the part of its citizens, contributed to a massive expansion in Britain's territorial possessions' (Carol Bolton, 'Romantic Literature and Colonialism', Literature Compass, 5/3 (2008): p. 541). The period's literary house museums bear to colonialism in numerous ways, but these histories frequently remain unexplored or untold. Moreover, because literary figures inspire reverence and widespread public respect, serious and rigorous engagements with relevant colonial legacies commonly face public and media hostility. The network will address this challenge and consider how best to respond strategically to the sensitivities involved. The network will begin by considering a specific case study, Wordsworth Grasmere, a site that includes Dove Cottage, the residence from 1799-1808 of Dorothy and William Wordsworth and from 1809-1820 of Thomas De Quincey. Maintained by the Wordsworth Trust (the network partner) for over a century, Wordsworth Grasmere has been a major heritage site and a leading literary house museum, receiving 40,000 visitors annually prior to the Covid pandemic. Its collection has Designated status as a 'vital part' of the England's 'national cultural and artistic heritage'. However, since the Wordsworths' and De Quincey's residence, and until now, there has been no concerted or sustained attempt to explore the multiple slavery and East India Company histories of Dove Cottage. The network will begin by addressing this legacy of silence and inaction.The network will then look beyond Wordsworth Grasmere to consider colonialism's complex issues and legacies in relation to the other Romantic-period literary house museums participating in the network, including: Abbotsford (Walter Scott); Jane Austen's House at Chawton; Robert Burns Birthplace Museum; Coleridge Cottage; Keats House; Newstead Abbey (Byron); and Wordsworth House (Cockermouth). The network will be academically interdisciplinary, including scholars of English Literature, History, Museum Studies and Tourism Studies. It will involve the participation of several related organisations and community groups with related concerns, including: American Writers Museum; Anne Frank Trust; Anti Racist Cumbria; Brontë Parsonage Museum; Museums&; National Trust. It will learn from the expertise of other specialists and projects in related areas, with input from consultants including Rachael Minott (chair of the Museums Association's Decolonising Guidance Working Group) and Laila Sumpton (who led 'Poetry versus Colonialism'). It will incorporate the voices of other stakeholders, including visitors, staff, volunteers, trustees, community and school groups.The network will create a set of resources to support literary house museums in researching their links with colonialism and interpreting them for a wider public. It will do so by organising three workshops, focusing initially on Wordsworth Grasmere's colonial links before expanding to share research questions and findings with a wider range of literary house museums. By collaborating on, comparing and contrasting these different cases studies, the network will enable these literary house museums to further research and represent the complex histories both of the sites they maintain and the writers those sites memorialise.

该网络将汇集学者、博物馆工作人员、顾问、利益相关者和社区团体，调查浪漫主义时期文学博物馆的殖民联系，并考虑如何最好地向更广泛的公众解释这些联系。遗址和博物馆能够最好地理解和代表它们所保存的地点和物品的复杂历史，这一争论为研究和策划浪漫主义时期（约 1780-1830 年）的文学博物馆带来了特殊的挑战。 “殖民主义以其公民的探索性举措、商业企业和移民定居的形式，促进了英国庞大领土的扩张”（卡罗尔·博尔顿，“浪漫主义文学与殖民主义”，《文学指南针》，5/3（ 2008）：第 541 页）这一时期的文学博物馆在很多方面都与殖民主义有关，但这些历史往往未被探索或未被讲述。激发敬畏和广泛的公众尊重，与相关殖民遗产的认真和严格的接触通常面临公众和媒体的敌意。该网络将应对这一挑战，并考虑如何最好地战略性地应对所涉及的敏感性。该网络将首先考虑一个具体的案例研究。华兹华斯格拉斯米尔 (Wordsworth Grasmere)，其中包括鸽舍 (Dove Cottage)、多萝西和威廉华兹华斯 (Dorothy Wordsworth) 和威廉华兹华斯 (Dorothy Wordsworth) 以及托马斯·德 (Thomas De) 1809-1820 年期间的住所（1799-1808 年）华兹华斯格拉斯米尔由华兹华斯信托基金（网络合作伙伴）维护了一个多世纪，一直是一个主要的遗产地和领先的文学博物馆，在新冠疫情大流行之前，每年接待 40,000 名游客，其藏品被指定为“博物馆”。英格兰“国家文化和艺术遗产”的重要组成部分。然而，自从华兹华斯和德昆西居住以来，直到现在，还没有任何协调一致或持续的尝试来探索它。鸽舍的多重奴隶制和东印度公司历史将首先解决这一沉默和无所作为的遗产。然后，该网络将超越华兹华斯·格拉斯米尔，考虑与其他浪漫主义时期文学博物馆有关的殖民主义的复杂问题和遗产。参与网络的包括：阿伯茨福德（沃尔特·斯科特）、乔顿的简·奥斯汀故居、罗伯特·伯恩斯出生地博物馆、纽斯特德修道院； （拜伦）；华兹华斯之家（科克茅斯） 该网络将是跨学科的，包括英国文学、历史、博物馆研究和旅游研究的学者，其中包括：它将学习相关领域的其他专家和项目的专业知识，并听取雷切尔·米诺特 (Rachael Minott) 等顾问的意见。博物馆协会非殖民化指导工作组的成员）和莱拉·桑普顿（Laila Sumpton）（“诗歌与殖民主义”的领导者）将吸收其他利益相关者的声音，包括游客、工作人员、志愿者、受托人、社区和学校团体。该网络将创建一个它将提供一系列资源，支持文学博物馆研究它们与殖民主义的联系，并为更广泛的公众解释它们。它将通过组织三个研讨会来实现这一目标，最初的重点是华兹华斯·格拉斯米尔之前的殖民联系。扩大与更广泛的文学之家博物馆分享研究问题和发现 通过合作、比较和对比这些不同的案例研究，该网络将使这些文学之家博物馆能够进一步研究和展示它们所维护的两个地点的复杂历史。以及这些网站所纪念的作家。