Andreas Nyblom, Nordiska museet & Lunds universitet

2009-2014

OBJECTIVES
During the latter half of the 19th Century, museums, archives and libraries formed collections of biographical memorabilia - relics of famous Swedes were put on public display. Through the preservation of manuscripts, used items, autographs, portraits and locks of hair writers, scientists and other creative individuals were provided a lasting presence previously only bestowed on royalty.
The aim of the project has been to analyse the historical and cultural processes through which former belongings of famous people were transformed into museum objects and cultural heritage. Through the lens of this particular phenomenon, the project has analysed the production of biographical memory in Sweden ca 1850-1900, with regard to its content, meaning and forms of communication. In addition to historicize a still current phenomenon, the aim has been to contribute to a cultural history of fame - not only by outlining the period's collection of characters or the ideas, ideals and identities with which they were associated, but also by paying attention to the media history of fame and the intermedial exchanges (between text, image, object and space) through which fame and biographical memory were produced, distributed and stored.

The biographical collection of Nordiska museet, such as it developed from the 1870s onwards, has, along with other contemporary collections in archives, libraries and museums, served as focal points for observing general patterns regarding the constitution of biographical memory and the promotion of national identity. Although museological aspects have been taken into account, the project's main task has been to investigate the exchange and interaction between museum practices and the mediation of personality in general. The advent of museum collections directed towards the commemoration of famous individuals, has been understood in relation to a wide range of communication media and practices of memory-making (e.g. monuments, biographical literature, illustrated magazines, photography). Museums, collections and exhibitions have been considered constituent parts of the 19th Century media system.

OUTCOMES
One result of the project is precisely it's illustration of how the production of biographical memory and meaning was distributed across the media landscape of the time. The collections of Nordiska museet, for example, had strong affinities with biographical literature and illustrated magazines, both in terms of its didactic vision and its actual body of celebrities represented. The project has also shown how these representational forms served to legitimize and supplement one another. Not infrequently explicit reference was made to monuments and biographical dictionaries in order to justify the presence of individuals in the tangible forms of the museum. The authenticity and durability associated with personal relics, were complementary to, as well as effects of, the textual and visual representations through which information and ideas about the individuals represented were disseminated.

Another result concerns the historicisation of phenomena in our own time. The project has contributed an empirical basis for questioning descriptions of celebrity culture as a new phenomenon closely intertwined with the emergence of media such as film and television. More specifically, the project has contributed knowledge to the history of profane relic-collecting, which makes it possible to understand the current commerce and fascination with "Star trash", "celebrity memorabilia" and "startifacts" from a much longer perspective. The project has also resulted in new insights on the interaction between 19th Century media, that provide an incitement to challenge current discussions of the unprecedented effects of new media, at present perhaps most distinctly expressed in the concept of mediatization (such discussions have been raised through participation in the interdisciplinary network project "MACS: Mediatization and Celebrity Studies" funded by RJ and coordinated by Lund University).

Another outcome concerns Swedish museum history. The project has, especially regarding Nordiska museet, contributed new knowledge of the museum's initial objectives and early operations. While previous accounts of the museum's history have often emphasized the preservation of costumes and crafts of agricultural Sweden as it's core ambition, the project has demonstrated that the production of an individualized heritage of fame and biographical memory played a central role. The project has also drawn attention to the general prevalence of this obscure aspect of museum history by paying attention to the emergence of similar collections within other national institutions and house museums.

TOPICS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
During the course of the project, several new questions have emerged, especially directed towards earlier historical contexts of relevance to the understanding of how a culture of biographical memory developed. One issue concerns the significance of biographical literature, such as it evolved from the late 18th Century. What did this literature mean for the establishment of biographical history and for the articulation and legitimization of this particular form of cultural memory and historiography?

INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS
Analytically the project has been anchored in several international fields of study that have not yet gained much attention in Swedish research. The project has thus contributed to the introduction in the Swedish language of perspectives and metodologies of expanding fields of research such as Celebrity Studies, Media History, Cultural Memory Studies and Literary tourism. Otherwise significant aspects of the project's internationalization remain. In addition to the publications listed in the Swedish report, the project will eventually result in a book published in English and in at least one article in an international journal.
Case-studies and preliminary findings have been presented at seminars at the University of Western Sydney and at Macquarie University in 2009, and at the Inaugural Celebrity Studies Conference at Deakin University, Melbourne in 2012. The project has also been involved in several Scandinavian research networks.

RESEARCH INFORMATION BEYOND ACADEMIA
Research information beyond the scientific community have been implemented through public lectures, articles and interviews in different contexts (for details see the swedish version of the report).

PUBLICATION STRATEGY
The publication strategy has from the beginning been to prepare a book-length study and some journal articles (including international journals). A book manuscript and an article in English, are under preparation and are expected to be completed during 2015. When finished, those will constitute the project's main publications. The fact that most of the existing publications are chapters or articles written in Swedish, may partly be explained with reference to the modest research environment (Nordiska Museet) in which the project was mainly conducted and which made collaboration through anthology-projects important venues for maintaining contact with universities and research networks.

Publications

PUBLIKATIONER

”Always Already Mediatized”, antologiartikel för publikation inom nätverksprojektet MACS (kommande 2015).

”Die Medien der Moderne: Literatur, Öffentlichkeit und Kulturelles Gedächtnis”, Wiener Studien zur Skandinavistik, (under översättning till tyska, kommande 2015).

”Ritualer vid skriftkulturens altare: Skrivbordets och arbetsrummets mediehistoria”, i Marie Cronqvist, Patrik Lundell & Pelle Snickars (red.), Återkopplingar (Mediehistoriskt arkiv, Lunds universitet, 2014). Länk till hela boken: http://mediehistorisktarkiv.se/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/aterkopplingar_webb.pdf

”Handen på papperet: Arkivet och personminnets materialitet”, Lychnos: Årsbok för idé- och lärdomshistoria, 2013. Länk till artikeln: http://www.vethist.idehist.uu.se/lychnos/index.php?view=article&id=176

”Personhistoriska effekter: Om Nordiska museet och berömmelsens kulturhistoria”, i Birgitta Svensson & Anna Wallette (red.), Individer i rörelse: Kulturhistoria i 1880-talets Sverige (Makadam, 2012).

”Kejsarens gamla kläder: Om osynliga kroppar och personhistoriska plagg”, i Roger Qvarsell & Birgitta Svensson (red.), Markeringar och maskeringar: Att visa eller dölja sin kropp (Nordiska museets förlag, 2012).

”Mediernas livrustkammare: Nordiska museet och berömmelsens materialitet”, i Jonas Harvard & Patrik Lundell (red.), 1800-talets mediesystem (Kungl. Biblioteket 2010). Länk till hela boken: http://mediehistorisktarkiv.se/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1800-talets_mediesystem.pdf

KONFERENSER/ SEMINARIER

Presentation. Mediehistoriska seminariet, Lunds universitet, 7/10 2009.

Presentation. Centre for Cultural Research, University of Western Sydney (3/11 2009), samt Centre for Media History, Macquarie University, Sydney (11/11 2009).

Presentation på konferensen ”Litteratur og intermedial praksis”, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (10-12/5 2010). Arr. Georg Brandes-Skolen, Köpenhamns universitet.

Föreläsning. Institutionen för nordisk litteratur, Helsingfors universitet (21/2 2011).

Föreläsning på seminariet ”Det moderne gennembrud. Publikationskontekster, medier og netværk”, Köpenhamns universitet (25/11 2011).

Inbjuden kommentator på konferensen New materialities in exhibition studies, Uppsala universitet (22-23/8 2012).

Medverkan med paper, Inaugural Celebrity Studies Conference, Deakin University, Melbourne (12-14/12 2012).

Medverkan med paper, Kulturhistorisk medieforskning III, nordiska perspektiv, Lunds universitet (23-24/4 2013).

Medverkan med paper, Scandinavian Media Culture 1814-2014: International workshop on comparative media research, Lunds universitet (9-10/10 2013).

Medverkan med paper, Mediatization and Celebrity Studies (MACS), Lunds universitet (24/4 2014).

Presentation. Film- och mediehistoriska seminariet, Lunds universitet (5/11 2014).