An Evaluation of”Middle Ages Dead or Live?”The first interactive exhibition at the National Museum of History

This is a study conducted at, and for, the National Museum of History in Stockholm. The aim of the study was to confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis that visitors in a traditional museum environment might not take part in interactivity in an interactive exhibition. And if they do the visitors might skip the texts and objects on display. To answer this and other questions a multiple method was used. Both non participant observations and exit interviews were conducted. After a description of the interactive exhibits, theory of knowledge and learning is presented before the gathered data is presented. All together 443 visitors were observed. In the observations the visitors were timed on how much time they spent in the room, the time spent on the interactivity, texts and objects. In the 40 interviews information about visitors’ participation in the interactivity was gathered. What interactivity the visitor found easiest, hardest, funniest and most boring.The result did not confirm the hypothesis. All kinds of visitors, children and adults, participated in the interactivities. The visitors took part in the texts and objects and the interactive exhibits.

Mio i folksagan och karnevalen : En tolkning och narratologisk studie av Astrid Lindgrens verk Mio, min Mio

The purpose of the study is, based on a narratological perspective, to analyze and interpret the novel written by Astrid Lindgren: Mio, min Mio. It is based on the legacy of the folktale tradition, which is also the basis for carnival concept according to Bachtin. The study is based on a narrative model of Gérard Genette. Mio, min Mio is told as a first person narrator and can be interpreted as Bo tells it to himself. It is a frame story in which the outer story is the reality, while the inner story is the structure of the folktale where Mio embarks on a predetermined mission to fight against evil. Carnival concept involves a timed up-and-down-turn that is sanctioned and controlled, this fits well with this story seen from this interpretation. In the fantasy world everything has an idealized counterpart and Bo is, via Mio, in this world for a limited time. Children in our society are powerless, but are allowed to be mighty in children's literature. The story gets a subversive effect as it shows that adult standards are not absolute. Even if Bo turns back to his foster parents, he goes through this inner battle processing his thoughts and feelings. The love Bo will experience in imagination gives him the power to manage his real situation.