American Artifacts: Essays in Material Culture

When defining culture, one must indeed take into account even the minutest of details What of a lighter, for example, or a telephone The essays in this new collection examine just that The contributors pose not only a historical, pragmatic use for the items, but also delve into imaginative aspects of what defines us as Americans Both the lighter and the telephone are investigated, as well as how the lava lamp represents sixties counterculture and containment The late nineteenth century corset is discussed as an embodiment of womanhood, and an Amish quilt is used as an illustration of cultural continuity These are just a few of the artifacts discussed Scholars will be intrigued by the historical interpretations that contributors proposed concerning a teapot, card table, and locket students will not only find merit in the expositions, but also by learning from the models how such interpretation can be carried out This collection helps us understand that very thing that makes us who we are Viewing these objects from both our past and our present, we can begin to define what it is to be American. Free Download eBook American Artifacts: Essays in Material Culture Author Jules David Prown – kino-fada.fr A really great book shows us how everything is great and worth to die forPrown argues that style is the key to understanding culture in his The Truth of Material Culture History or Fiction essay in American Artifacts Essays in Material Culture Comparing American teapots and card tables constructed before and after the Revolutionary War, Prown demonstrates how when a society undergoes a traumatic change, that change can manifest itself artifactually 21 Although the nebulous reputation of connoisseurship often seems purely subjective and thus biased, Pro Prown argues that style is the key to understanding culture in his The Truth of Material Culture History or Fiction essay in American Artifacts Essays in Material Culture Comparing American teapots and card tables constructed before and after the Revolutionary War, Prown demonstrates how when a society undergoes a traumatic change, that change can manifest itself artifactually 21 Although the nebulous reputation of connoisseurship often seems purely subjective and thus biased, Prown is rather convincing in his view that a distinguishing eye for style is a useful tool for extracting cultural beliefs from artifact...This book provides a useful introduction for how a person might go about writing about material objects in an evocative, yet informative way As with all collections, the quality of each essay varies, but many of them provided at least one way of going about description that I wouldn t have otherwise thought about Further, some of the objects that are written about are just fascinating food mills, lighters, corsets The book is also basic enough to make a good introductory or explanatory text This book provides a useful introduction for how a person might go about writing about material objects in an evocativ...The Prownian method is a good start to material culture studies in that it forces the scholar or historian to get to know an oject, or commodity, at a nitty and gritty basic level Why was this object made and what purpose does it serve In that sense each object forms a bond, and or connection, with the person who is studying it Yet, I gave the book two stars simply because it isn t enough There is little to no contextual background of the object and thus every essay winds up being quite bias The Prownian method is a good start to material culture studies in that it forces the scholar or historian to get to know an oject, or commodity, at a nitty and gritty basic level Why was this object made and what purpose does it serve In that sense each object forms a bond, and or connection, with the person who is studying it Yet, I gave the book two stars simply because it isn t enough There is little to no contextual background of th...Prownian method of looking at material culture studies Objects analyzed through material culture methods of Jules Prown Objects are studied, given outside reference, and then hypothesis is achieved based of study objects become a way to understand the culture from which they come.Best essays in the book 1923 Telephone, Haitian money box, Lava Lamp.Several others were good, but I found those three to be profound.

• English
• 18 July 2017
Jules David Prown
• Paperback
• 255 pages
• 0870135244
• Jules David Prown
• American Artifacts: Essays in Material Culture