The Soundscape of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk as a Memory Apparatus

This article presents an analysis of the soundscape of the permanent exhibition at the Second World War Museum in Gdansk, an aspect that has received less attention in the scholarship. The exhibition and its soundscape are considered here as memory apparatuses, whose function is to disseminate and co-create national and transnational memory of the Second World War, while also relating visitors to the past and situating them within a remembering community. Highlighting 'sonic icons' and sound mnemotopoi as constituent components of the exhibition, the article examines the role of the exhibition's sound layer in constructing its visitors' affective recipient experience. Keywords: Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk; memory apparatus; museum soundscape; sonic icon; sound mnemotopos
The Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk is one of Poland's most modern and important narrative history museums. The decision on the museum's location was made by the [...]