Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.3 Interpretation: Historic Site Interpretation Center Core
2.3.2 The Theories of Interpretation
Constructivism and hermeneutics interpretive theories are applied in this research as it is believed that their function as meaning-making methods should be considered by museographers and curators in their attempt to design a meaningful museum visitor’s experience. This section is intended to review both Piaget’s (1967) theory of constructivism and Heidegger’s (1995) theory of Hermeneutics , and their relation to Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s (1991) conceptual opposition that characterize the museum interpretive approaches known as ‘in situ’ and ‘in context’.
2.3.2.1 Piaget and Constructivism
Piaget (1967), a leading figure in the fields of cognitive theory and developmental psychology, suggested Constructivism as an educational theory.
Piaget believes that knowledge in education is created by the learner's mind, and not limited to the information passed from teacher to student. Constructivism is a learning theory, tackled by people behavior, observation, interaction and engagement (Brandon and All, 2010). In this theory, learning is recognized as an active method, where people make their own meaning in response to their experience and collective memory (Hoover, 1996; Mohammad and Farhana, 2018), as well as their needs and
expectations (Liu and Chen, 2010). In general, visitors are active meaning-makers in museums settings through negative or positive experiences, that are often influenced by factors such as self-identity, companionship and leisure motivations (Silverman, 2010). Therefore, the application of constructivism interpretation approach to site- related museums highlights the relationship between personal and social experience, and the creation of a meaningful learning environment (Greenhill, 1999; Jeffery- Clay, 1998).
On this grounds, constructivism theory on meaning-making depends on the visitors’ ability to understand, memorize and rephrase the attained knowledge from their visit to a museum (Liu and Chen, 2010) as an epistemological view that emphasizes on the construction of knowledge building rather than mere transmission (Applefield et al., 2001; Brandon and All, 2010). Given that meaning-making process happens between the historic site and the Historic Site Interpretation Centers, by itself the constructivism interpretive theory may not suffice to fully understand the meaning-making process, because in such cases meanings occurred between the whole (i.e. historic site) and the parts (i.e. objects and artifacts) through experience.
Therefore, reviewing the hermeneutic circle and its role in meaning-making process is necessary.
2.3.2.2 Heidegger and Hermeneutical Circle
Heidegger (1995) characterizes Hermeneutics as an interpretation methodology, considering holistic meanings and focusing on the definition of a shared meaning for a given representation or symbol. Hermeneutics is an approach that attempts to achieve a deep understanding and creation of meaning through building a relationship between the whole and the part, and similarly between the historic site and the artifact displayed in the museum (Greenhill, 1999; Latham,
2012). The Hermeneutic circle is one of the most important concepts of the Hermeneutic theory, because the process of interpretation and meaning-making is constantly constructed between small and large units of meanings, in order to determine a holistic meaning of both (Grondin, 2017). Therefore, meanings cannot exist if the smaller unit is isolated from the larger context. In this research, it is anticipated that meanings are determined through two approaches: first, an active interaction between the whole (i.e. contextual setting) and the part (i.e. artifact), and second, between the past and the present. This interaction attempts to improve the readability of meanings created within a specific context, via tight relationships between the visitor’s collective memory, behavior, and socio-cultural values, as well as the used interpretive strategies in that context.
The holistic concept of Hermeneutics interpretation process deals with the
‘whole’ rather than the ‘part’ and seems closely connected to Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s argument (1991). In her classical essay “Objects of Ethnography”, she presented a dichotomy of interpretative approaches which she called ’in situ’ and ‘in context’, as the underlying theoretical conflict that characterizes museum institutions. The first, shows the object within the realm of its natural environment or in other words its original physical, cultural and social context, to include what has been left behind even through artifacts replicas; and the second, shows the object as an abstract entity within an artificial and isolated controlled environment, then interpreted using multiple presentation and description techniques such as; textual captions, maps, diagrams, and different approaches of interpretation (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, 1991).
Historic Site Interpretation Centers are designed to provide the visitors an opportunity to explore, and better understanding of the historic site cultural heritage through an experience of ‘in situ’ and ‘in context’ modes of interpretation at a shared
location. Hence, Piaget, Heidegger and Kirshenblatt-Gimblett philosophies meet best the interpretation and meaning-making process at such settings. This research claims that Historic Site Interpretation Centers exhibits should have a holistic instead of an atomistic (i.e. unconnected) meaning. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a balanced relationship between the museum contextual setting and the visitors’ needs to achieve the museums purposes in society (i.e. education, interpretation, and entertainment purposes). To this end, reviewing the three stages of the musealization process (remove, recreate and reintegrate) in museums is needed to highlight the relationships between meaning-making and the dual modes of interpretation known as ‘in context’ and ‘in situ’, as a proper understanding of the meaning-making process is an important factor in a museum’s success (Silverman, 2010).