"Telling the New Zealand story" : national narratives in three long-term exhibitions at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Media Studies at Massey University

Abstract

This thesis is an examination of the national narratives contained in three exhibits in The Musem of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa. It examines the existence of the state and the nation, and their involvement in museum development, and applies this theory, and selected theories of Roland Barthes, Sergei Eisenstein, and Walter Benjamin, to the subsequent analysis. Broadly, the position taken is that museums are one of a number of institutions that perpetuate national narratives in order to bind nations together and discourage anti-state sentiment, and this position is validated in the analysis of three long-term Te Papa exhibits, Exhibiting Ourselves, Parade, and Golden Days.