CHAPTER 3 Methodology
II. Research Methods
Discourse analysis Documents
Collected documents were sorted into two parts and presented as follow. First, the official publications include guidebooks and DVD, bought in the museum’s bookstore.
The documents served as essential background knowledge to museum’s nucleus and exhibition’s orientation (see Table 3.1.). Second, I collected and analyzed news reports introducing and/or commenting on the MQB, the exhibition, the architecture and President Chirac’s ambition and idea for the project in leading US newspaper, the New
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York Times, and in French newspapers and magazines, such as Libération, Le Nouvel
Observateur and Le Point (See Table 3.2.). Both relied on online resources.
Table 3-1. Official publications of the MQB
Author Title Document
Le Musée du Quai Branly/ Les
Dogon, Chronique d’une passion Video 2006 Armelle Lavalou & Jean-Paul
Robert Le Musée du Quai Branly Book 2006
Musée du quai Branly Masterpieces : from the musée
du quai Branly collections Book 2006 Stéphane Martin Musée du quai Branly : Là où
dialoguent les cultures Book 2011
Table 3-2. Non-official news
Alan Riding A New Museum in Paris Inches Toward Reality
New York
Times web page September 6, 2004 Anne-Marie Fèvre Plus un territoire qu’une
architecture Libération web page June 20, 2006 Arthur Lubow The Contextualizer New York
Times web page April 6, 2008 Caroline Brothers Immigrants Flock Proudly
to Musée du Quai Branly
New York
Times web page August 21, 2006 Catherine Pégard Chirac en son jardin secret Le Point web page April 14,
2000 Catherine Pégard La passion du Président Le Point web page June 15,
2006
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Observateur web page December 5, 2015
Edward Rothstein French Museums Atone for a Colonial History
A Heart of Darkness in the City of Light
Observateur web page June 10, 2008
N/A Chirac a inauguré le musée du quai Branly
Le Nouvel
Observateur web page June 20, 2006
These documents were examined through discourse analysis. Discourse is a set of statement that constructs knowledge of the world, which involves power. These documents were viewed as a totality of meaning, that is, discourse formation, the result of systemized knowledge (Rose, 2006). In the case of the MQB, the exhibition that embodies the sense of aesthetics implies a power-led discourse, upheld by a group of influential personages. The analysis focused on several aspects, including the disposition of nations in the permanent gallery, the proportion and hierarchy of the
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exhibits, the conflict between aesthetic and history, the mobility of visitors and collections, cross-national cooperation, and the interest of media coverage. Through the examination of documents, the thesis seeks to explore in depth the formation of
statements and actions that respond to the nucleus of the museum.
Spatial context analysis
The thesis took spatial context into concern as well, exploring the poetics of exhibiting constructed in MQB. Besides, the thesis examined the meaning of its geographical location in the city. The reason to analyze the spatial context is to examine the aesthetic Other in a larger sense. In other words, the thesis considers that the space inside the museum and the disposition of the objects contribute to the perspective toward the exhibition. Moreover, regarding the disposition of the districts in Paris, the location of the MQB brings about an interesting interrelation with its neighborhood. Materials for spatial analysis relied on observation, photograph, and records from the field investigation.
The field investigation was conducted in 2014 from July 28 to August 1. In order to see the difference of visiting due to the variations in time, the investigation was carried out at different times in a day with the support of taking notes and photos. Since the research Field investigation
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intended to understand the practice of exhibiting and the actual experience of visiting,
investigation especially paid attention to the following aspects:
Visitors: identity, age, ethnic group, reactions to the exhibition, exhibiting
movement, and exterior activities in the garden
Exhibition and interior spatial design: the display of the exhibition (on permanent
exhibition), textual information, visual technique, spatial layout, and lighting effect
Exterior spatial design: the overall design of the museum architecture and garden,
and museum’s surroundings
In order to get a better understanding of the MQB’s exhibiting concept and practice in depth and of visitors’ opinion and experience, the research conducted interviews with both museum personnel and visitors. The research regards interview as a complement to the field investigation and also as a testimony to the second-handed documents. The information of the interviewees was sorted and coded. Interview guides and transcript were adhered to the Appendix (see Appendixes A & B).
Semi-structured interviews
Museum personnel
I contacted MQB personnel through emails, and received two responses at last: one from Mr. Chih-Cha, Chung, touring exhibition coordinator, and the other one from Mr.
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Frédéric Keck, director of the Department of Research and Education (see Table 3.3.).
The first interview was conducted with Mr. Chung via telephone on July 21, 2014. The telephone interview method was chosen since Mr. Chung had been on his leave when I arrived in Paris. The second interview was conducted in Mr. Keck’s office in the MQB on July 29, 2014 face to face (see Figure 3.1.). Both interviews were carried out in English.
Figure 3.1. Interview with Mr. Keck, director of the Department of Research and Education (photograph by author on July 29th, 2014)
Table 3-3. Information of the interviewees: museum personnel
Name Gender Position Interviewed
Date Interviewed Venue Fed, Chih-Cha
Chung Male touring exhibition
coordinator July 21, 2014 On the phone Frédéric Keck Male Head of the research and
teaching Department July 29, 2014 Director’s office in the MQB
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Museum visitors
To clarify the formation of the visiting subjects, museum visitors are key informants.
Interviews were conducted with 10 interviewees in the museum’s garden or outside the entrance of the main exhibition hall during the field investigation. Most interviewees were Frenchmen (7); the rest were Africans (2) and Taiwanese (1) (see Table 3.4.). They came with partners, children, friends or alone. The duration of an interview lasted at least 2 to 3 minutes or 15 minutes at the most depending on visitors’ time and will.
Interviews were carried out in French, English, or Chinese. Key criterion for sampling visitors was planned to be that of one’s place of origin from the four continents except Europe. Nonetheless, first, due to the forbiddance of inquiring into individual’s ethnicity according to French law; second, due to the limit amount of non-European visitors; third, due to the difficulty in judging their originality from appearance, interviews were thus conducted with those who rested outside after visiting yet chance may be that visitors might not have visited yet.
Table 3-4. Information of the interviewees: museum visitors
Code Gender Age City/Country Interviewed Date
V1 Female 20-30 South Africa July 30, 2014
V2 Male 30-40 Nancy, France July 30, 2014
V3 Female 30-40 Nancy, France July 30, 2014
V4 Female 30-40 Côte d’Ivore, Africa July 30, 2014
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V5 Female 30-40 Taiwan July 30, 2014
V6 Female 40-50 Paris, France July 31, 2014
V7 Male 40-50 France July 31, 2014
V8 Male 60-70 Avignon, France July 31, 2014
V9 Female 50-60 Paris, France August 1, 2014
V10 Female 50-60 Paris, France August 1, 2014
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