ss Great Britain and the containment of British collective memory

Abstract

This article explores the Bristol‐based ss Great Britain and the heritage industry dedicated to it. It critically examines how the museum, which is based within the ship itself, allows visitors to ‘feel good’ about the history of British colonialism by acting as a container for British collective memory. It examines how the key narrative in the exhibition is structured as an affective journey of hope for a better future based primarily around the journey of British people to Australia in the mid‐nineteenth century. It is argued that it is no longer acceptable that public heritage institutions, such as the ss Great Britain, continue to represent British colonial history as a voyage of economic and personal discovery for white settlers.

Keywords:

• collective memory
• British colonialism
• affect
• museum frames
• maritime history

Notes

1. I went on this trip with my father who had been part of the salvage mission of the ss Great Britain when he worked onboard HMS Endurance in 1970.

2. It is worth noting as well the extent to which the ship is anthropomorphised throughout the exhibition. As a ship, it is automatically gendered ‘she’. As a result, we are encouraged to welcome ss Great Britain ‘home’ as much as we would a person who has been estranged. This gendering of the ss Great Britain is important because it creates dimensions of how people can care about the ship. Although ‘she’ is by no means vulnerable, ‘she’ can be tended to with the delicacy that you could, perhaps, lend to your mother or sister.

3. A similar problem is posed by the Extraordinary Heroes exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London, an exhibition which encourages visitors to explore notions of heroism such as aggression, boldness, endurance and sacrifice by engaging with the life‐stories of soldiers who were awarded the Victoria Cross. For more information see here: http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/184/index.html