Acknowledgements
This unit was written by Peter Elmer and Rodney Harrison.Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons...
View ArticleReferences
Friedel, R. (1993) ‘Some matters of substance’ in Lubar, S. and Kingery, W.D. (eds) History from Things: Essays on Material Culture, Washington DC and London, Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 41–50....
View ArticleConclusion
In conclusion, we can all agree, I think, that objects testify to the exciting possibilities inherent in the study of material culture. Increasingly, scholars are becoming more aware and attuned to the...
View ArticleMaking assumptions
Activity 5 [You should allow 15 minutes for this activity.] Take a look at the following list of ten objects and then spend some time jotting down your reflections on what the list suggests about the...
View ArticleEveryday objects
How did you start the day this morning? You might have started it, like I did, to the sound of a clock radio alarm, with the handle of a teacup in one hand and a bowl of cereal in the other. These...
View ArticleWhat is material culture?
We all live our lives as part of a network of material things. Some of these things might strike us as remarkable, but many of the things which we use to shape our world and which in turn shape us as...
View ArticleDescribing objects
In very plain and simple terms, we might then say that object-centredapproaches start with close description of the object and work outwards, while object-driven approaches start with the broader...
View ArticleObject-driven approaches
At the same time, Herman has identified a second strand to material culture studies, one which he describes as ‘object-driven’. Here, the focus shifts toward an emphasis on understanding how objects...
View ArticleObject-centred approaches
One simple way of approaching our subject is to adapt the work of the American art historian Bernard Herman, a leading pioneer in the field of material culture studies. Herman has suggested that the...
View ArticleHow to study material culture
Crucially, those with a special interest in the study of material culture tend to cross disciplinary or subject boundaries, and work in what we describe as an interdisciplinary fashion. At the same...
View ArticleThe study of objects
The study of objects constitutes a relatively new field of academic enquiry, commonly referred to as material culture studies. Students of material culture seek to understand societies, both past and...
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A piece of broken masonry
On the surface, my object has little real value, either practical or aesthetic, and, as if to underline the point, it currently occupies an unpromising location next to my downstairs toilet. And if...
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Why study things?
Ever since the dawn of humankind, men and women have surrounded themselves with material objects, some of which have practical value (tools, utensils, clothing, etc.), and others for their aesthetic or...
View ArticleLearning outcomes
By the end of this unit you should:understand what material culture ishave an understanding of the origin of material culture as an area of study in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuryhave...
View ArticleIntroduction
Why study things? Or put another way, what can we learn from objects that we can’t find out from the reading of texts? There’s no simple answer to these questions but, as we shall discover in the...
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