2nd Edition

What Objects Mean An Introduction to Material Culture

    272 Pages
    by Routledge

    272 Pages
    by Routledge

    Arthur Asa Berger, author of an array of texts in communication, popular culture, and social theory, is back with the second edition of his popular, user-friendly guide for students who want to understand the social meanings of objects. In this broadly interdisciplinary text, Berger takes the reader through half a dozen theoretical models that are commonly used to analyze objects. He then describes and analyzes eleven objects, many of them new to this edition—including smartphones, Facebook, hair dye, and the American flag—showing how they demonstrate concepts like globalization, identity, and nationalism. The book includes a series of exercises that allow students to analyse objects in their own environment. Brief and inexpensive, this introductory guide will be used in courses ranging from anthropology to art history, pop culture to psychology.

    Preface
    Part I: Theoretical Approaches to Material Culture
    Chapter 1: Making Sense of Material Culture
    Chapter 2: A Freudian Psychoanalytic Approach
    Chapter 3: Semiotic Approaches to Material Culture
    Chapter 4: Sociological Analysis of Material Culture
    Chapter 5: Economic Theory, Marxism, and Material Culture
    Chapter 6: Cultural Theory and Material Culture
    Chapter 7: Archaeological Theory and Material Culture
    Part II: Applications
    Chapter 8: Exchange
    Chapter 9: Style
    Chapter 10: Technology
    Chapter 11: Globalization
    Chapter 12: Identity
    Chapter 13: Transformations
    Chapter 14: Sociability
    Chapter 15: Shape
    Chapter 16: Diffusion
    Chapter 17: Narratives
    Chapter 18: Nationalism
    Part III: Material Culture Games
    The Artifacts Inventory Game
    The Time Capsule Game
    Disciplinary Perspectives on Objects
    The Grid-Group Theory and Objects Game
    The Objects and Personal Identity Game

    Biography

    Authored by Asa Berger, Arthur; Berger, Arthur Asa