The Study Of Tony Bennet’s Museum Cultural Governmentality Theory

Tony Bennett is an Marxist literary critic and cultural theorist from British.He adheres to the principle of historical materialism,connects the relationship between culture and society,and opens up a new field and a new paradigm of cultural studies.Museum research is an important part of Bennett’s cultural governmentality theory and a model of cultural governmentality in practice.Public museums are the most ideal places for the practice of cultural governmentality.The characteristics of general openness to the public and the authority of cultural discourse maintain a delicate balance in the same system.It not only conforms to many practical conditions required by cultural governmentality practice,but also has complex internal political discourse space that other cultural institutions do not have.At the same time,it undertakes the function of facing and guiding the public without difference,and is an important place to provide non-utilitarian aesthetic activities.Bennett’s theory of museum cultural governmentality is a representative of both theoretical and practical significance in museum research.The first chapter reviews the theoretical basis of museum cultural governmentality,combs the development of Bennett’s personal thought system based on the theory of cultural governmentality,and summarizes the development of traditional museums and the relevant discourse of research.His research was influenced by western cultural politics and governmentality theories,and was guided by Gramsci,Habermas and Foucault.His cultural research thought is based on Marxist literature and art theory,selectively draws on Russian formalism criticism,and is stereotyped in the British school of cultural studies.The museum research at that time also had a great influence on Bennett,which made him think deeply about the birth of the museum on this basis.Traditional museums follow the logic of history and collection,while the historical practice of public museums Outlines the development track of liberal democratic thought and reflects the elements of freedom in the governmentality system.All these constitute the theoretical basis of the cultural governmentality of Bennett Museum,which makes it continuous,diverse and integrated.The absorption of various theories is both relatively independent and consistent.The second chapter focuses on the theory of museum cultural governmentality itself.It returns to the perspective of museum research to explain the theoretical framework of cultural governmentality and clarify its cultural basis,cultural politics and governmentality mechanism.This chapter demonstrates the cultural basis of museum governmentality from the aspects of life style and reform tools,and thinks about the social positioning of public museums after the material transformation.Unlike other cultural researchers,Bennett’s cultural studies put political factors in an important position.By exploring the context and narrative strategies of collections from the perspective of material culture research,this paper introduces the internal contradictions in the political discourse space of museums,analyzes the participation forms of subjects,and presents Bennett’s view of culture and politics.Based on cultural foundation and cultural politics,museum practice under the guidance of cultural governmentality theory,as a utilitarian tool of democratic education,concretely acts on the three dimensions of public space,aesthetics and body,so as to broadly,potentially and gently regulate subjects from daily life,aesthetic taste and body order.The third chapter summarizes the uniqueness and theoretical contribution of museum cultural governmentality theory,reflects on its limitations and drawbacks,critically absorbs the research ideas of other museums,stimulates the vitality of cultural governmentality at present,and looks forward to the transformation and governmentality of museums.As an important part of Bennett’s cultural governmentality theory,museum research is a model of cultural governmentality practice.While affirming his transcendent attempt to combine policy research with cultural research,he also reflects on the limitations of cultural theory.The prediction of "the end of museums",the contradiction of the tendency of pan-power and the radical trend of new museology all pose impacts and challenges to the discourse system of museum cultural governmentality,and modernist museums are in urgent need of transformation.Therefore,cultural theory should constantly adjust itself to adapt to the arrival of the post-museum era,reflect on and criticize itself,actively explore the adaptive development of the current governmentality mechanism in the transition period of museums,and then look forward to the enlightenment of the post-museum era to cultural governmentality theory.The study of museum cultural governmentality as a separate issue aims to place museum,a complex object of social and cultural studies,in the same important position as cultural governmentality theory,to clarify the irreplaceable significance of museum research to the discourse system of cultural governmentality,and to start from the realistic conditions and social context of the museum system,with practice as the target.Stimulate the positive value of cultural governmentality.Through the longitudinal review of the formation of museum research and cultural governmentality,this paper further explains the framework and connotation of the theory of museum cultural governmentality,and summarizes its particularity and theoretical contributions,so as to reflect on the historical limitations and look forward to the future development and practice.