National Identity Within the National Museum: Subjectification Within Socialization M. Elizabeth Weiser Published online: 19 August 2014 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 Abstract Rhetorician Kenneth Burke’s theory of identification usefully demonstrates how (and where) communities are able to engage with difficult, opposing viewpoints as they develop or maintain a sense of shared identity. Identification, ‘‘establishing a shared sense of values, attitudes, and interests with [an audience],’’ is promoted dialogically in the modern national museum in a way that it is difficult for classrooms to emulate. This article examines dialogic national identification particularly through the focus in museums on certain key objects that serve as what Burke termed ‘‘mythic images’’ that ambiguously unify multiple perspectives and translate their debates from the abstract to the concrete. By promoting the reflective identification of one’s personal memories with the collective memory of nationhood, national museums provide an aesthetic/pragmatic space for the dialogical embrace of a public identity that is not merely reflected in its exhibits but also continually reshaped by its visiting individuals. I end with the possibilities, or cautions, these mythic images suggest for varying types of communal identification—a tension inherent as well in Gert Biesta’s arguments for the meaning of a ‘‘good’’ education. Keywords Kenneth Burke Á Rhetoric Á Museums Á National identity Á Epistemology Á Subjectification Introduction Power brokers question the pragmatic purpose of aesthetic endeavors—what measureable good is it? Humanists answer with appeals to the idealistic—it makes us immeasurably better. I propose a third way, arguing that the aesthetic serves a vital ‘‘real-world’’ purpose that can, if not quantified, at least be explained using the theories of 20th century rheto- rician and literary critic Kenneth Burke. Specifically, I argue that Burke’s theory of M. E. Weiser (&) Department of English, Ohio State University, 1179 University Drive, Newark, OH 43055, USA e-mail: Weiser.23@osu.edu 123 Stud Philos Educ (2015) 34:385–402 DOI 10.1007/s11217-014-9433-4