The theoretical construction of memory deformation in the museum

Interpreting space within social processes requires a multidimensional reading practice that encompasses not only its physical existence but also its cultural and discursive layers. In this context, memory functions as an analytical tool that reveals the layers of meaning behind a place by establishing connections between the past and the present. This study aims to uncover the layers of meaning attributed to the museum space—interpreted through objects and images that represent the past in the present—by going beyond the surface narratives presented within it. Although museums, as institutions of memory, possess the potential to construct memory through spatial narratives, such representations are often limited, directive, and selective. Accordingly, this study questions how memory is instrumentalized through architecture within the selected museum context and in what ways it becomes deformed throughout this process. Conducted through a qualitative research method based on grounded theory, the study focuses on the Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum. The data collected within the museum context were classified as subject productions that reveal different dimensions of memory—such as narrative, representation, and reception—and analyzed through coding stages. Comprising five main sections, the study makes visible the constitutive dynamics of memory within the museum space while simultaneously reinterpreting the museum as a scene of memory deformation.