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Polysemic Objects and Partial Translations: Museums and the Interpretation of Indigenous Material Culture in Taiwan
Author(s) -
Varutti Marzia
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
museum anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.197
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1548-1379
pISSN - 0892-8339
DOI - 10.1111/muan.12056
Subject(s) - indigenous , polysemy , indigenous culture , sociology , politics , interpretation (philosophy) , object (grammar) , anthropology , cultural translation , linguistics , boundary line , boundary (topology) , political science , computer science , philosophy , law , ecology , computer vision , biology , mathematical analysis , mathematics
This article explores the polysemic character of objects through an analysis of multiple interpretations of indigenous material culture in contemporary Taiwan. My study focuses on a specific type of object—the canoe of the Tao indigenous group of Taiwan—and its interpretations inside and outside of museums. Theoretically, my analysis draws on the concepts of polysemy, boundary objects, and cultural translation to examine the different meanings and contextualizations of Tao canoes. The unique cultural density of Tao canoes provides opportunities to critically engage with the propensity of museums to act as sites for the production, transformation, and dissemination of knowledge about indigenous cultures and to address the complex political discourses in which indigenous material culture is entangled in contemporary Taiwan. [museums, indigenous, material culture, Taiwan, translation, boundary objects, canoes]