La production de sens de l'adulte en contexte muséal (visite d'exposition)

Abstract

The production of meaning is a concept that has quietly emerged in the museum world since the early 21st century. We now have an instrument, “Thinking Out Loud”, which allows for a rigorous study of what an adult visitor to an exhibition says spontaneously. This instrument provides information that can be used to answer a wide variety of questions. However, three dimensions of the production of meaning are fundamental and important to investigate: its cognitive, imaginary and affective orientation; the specific element of the exhibition that captures the visitor’s attention and triggers his or her production of meaning; and the degree of certainty that characterises what the visitor says, i.e., his or her production of meaning.

Keywords

• production of meaning
• analytical tool
• cognitive functioning
• imaginal functioning
• affective functioning
• museum exhibition