Identity Work in Portuguese Local Museums: Exploring Adult Engagement and Experiences

This thesis aims primarily to understand the nature of adults’ sustained experiences (notably cognitive, social, emotional and aesthetic) in their interaction with a particular Portuguese Local Museum, over a considerable period of time. Specifically, the thesis examines engagement, which two community-based museums have been fostering: the Museu do Trabalho Michel Giacometti and the Núcleo Museológico de Alverca. A qualitative approach to research was employed, and in-depth interviews were conducted to explore adults’ perceptions and reflections upon their sustained relationship with the museums. Narrative Inquiryinspired methodologies enriched the data gathered from interviews. Grounded in the research data, and attentive to the interviewees’ biographical recounts and meaning making processes, we were able to propose that this thesis’ participants engage in sustained relationships with a particular local museum as a strategy of identity building (Rounds 2006). We advance a possible interpretative taxonomy centred in three main categories: Learners, Cultured and Amateur Collectors.