Objects and the Representation of War in Military Museums

Abstract

This paper reflects upon the ability of a military museum to create diverserepresentations of war, through the use and interpretation of its objects. In this type of museum, war can be presented as being both a positive or negative phenomenon. For many people, a visit to a military history museum is the one of the main ways that a person will learn about war, aside from its portrayal in education, the media or in film and television. These museums have great influence in representing war. This is particularly true in Northern Ireland where representations of conflict have the potential to widen the gap between communities in an already divided society.
How objects affect the creation of representations of war can depend on which
types of object are displayed, in what context they are displayed, their physical
condition and also the way in which the objects are connected with people or
individuals (Saunders, 2004; Dudley 2010). This paper examines three approaches to displaying objects in the regimental museums of Northern Ireland. These have been termed the celebratory approach, the sanitized approach and the realistic approach.