Irina Valentinovna Chuvilova,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Head of the Research Group “Russian Museum Encyclopedia” (New Institute for Cultural Research), Moscow, Russia, е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Person as an Object of Verbal Mastering of the Museum Space in the 18th – Early 19th Century
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2021-2-6
In the 18th century, the processes of the formation of the Russian national language took place, which also led to the emergence of special terminology and concepts in the museum sphere, collecting, and the protection of antiquities. The formation of new, special concepts and their evolution in the field of science, culture and art begins either with borrowing, or with strengthening, correlation of the semantic and stylistic tonality of words from the native language. As applied to the museum sphere, borrowings and innovations of various origins have the same starting point as the era of museum work in Russia – the foundation of the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera in 1714 and the Academy of Sciences in 1724. In these years, the systematic work was started to collect and preserve heritage sites, for which it became necessary to master the European experience. Such concepts as “museum”, “collection”, “heritage” appeared in Russian dictionaries and gradually became fixed in everyday life. By the end of the 18th century not only the objects of conservation and collection had been distinguished, but the subjects had been also defined. These were, first of all, people specially trained for professional activity (and profession), specialists in certain areas of interaction with heritage. Secondly, an understanding began to form (which has been constantly transformed over the course of three centuries): what is the museum audience and the museum visitor. The dynamics of changes that make up this dichotomy of concepts – the museum and the audience, have generally coincided, over the course of three hundred years sometimes they coexist absolutely in parallel, sometimes they intersect and close. The terminology reflects these intricate ways, as well as the socio-cultural realities and the context very clearly. In the 19th century, a whole set of definitions appears which indicates not only the gradual democratization of the national museum, but also the beginning of its communication stage.
Publishing: 28/04/2021
The article has been received by the editor on 31/01/2021
How to cite: Chuvilova I.V. Person as an Object of Verbal Mastering of the Museum Space in the 18th – Early 19th Century // Historical Courier, 2021, No. 2 (16), pp. 78–92. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2021/ISTKURIER-2021-2-06.pdf
Links: Issue 2 2021
Keywords: history of museums; terminology; specialization; museum audience; visitors