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AMES, MICHAEL M. CANNIBAL TOURS AND GLASS BOXES: THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF MUSEUMS. UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA PRESS, 1992. 212 PP. BIBLIOGRAPHY, INDEX. $39.95, CLOTH.
The fourteen chapters of this book are taken from a series of essays written over a long period of time. Chapters two through six and nine and ten were published in the first edition in 1986 as Museums, the Public and Anthropology in the anthropology series of Ranchi University by Concept Publishing Company of New Delhi. Dr. Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi (recently deceased) was the general editor of the original work. The essays deal with the changing role of anthropology and especially museum anthropology. Most of Ames' examples are taken from his Canadian experience but the essays have a wider significance. The primary focus of the book is the process of homogenization or "democratization" of world culture. Unfortunately the chapters do not build one upon another and therefore it is only possible to summarize the content of the book by summarizing the individual chapters.
Chapter one, the introductory chapter, documents Ames' struggle to understand the nature of museums and their changing role in society. He believes the study and interpretation of artifacts can be seen from two extremes. The first is that of the elitist scholar who believes that special training has prepared him or her to understand and interpret the histories and cultures of others. The second extreme is that of the life of an exhibited people and claims that scholars cannot accurately interpret their culture in a museum exhibit. Ames believes that the successful museum will...