cover of History and Material Culture

History and Material Culture

Edited by Karen Harvey

Price: $125.00

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About the Book

This new book opens up the discussion on sources to those beyond the 'traditional' textual ones, and into the material realm.

Across twelve chapters, different historians look at a variety of material sources from around the globe and across centuries to assess how such sources can be used to study history. While the sources discussed are ‘interdisciplinary’, each contributor examines how the source can be approached from an historical perspective. While some chapters take individual material sources such as dress and the cooking pot to illustrate how material sources can be discussed, others take a thematic approach. Each chapter addresses the theme or approach in a way accessible to readers without expertise in this area, foregrounding methodological issues.

Together with a general introduction which discusses key issues such as where we find ‘material culture’, whose ‘material culture’, and what kind of a source ‘material culture’ is, and a chapter which suggests some basic steps for using material sources, this is the perfect companion for every student of history who wants to engage with sources.

Table of Contents

Introduction: History and Material Culture Karen Harvey 2. Practical Matters: Material Culture and Historical Research Karen Harvey 3. Object Biographies: from production to consumption Karin Dannehl 4. Using buildings in social history Anne Laurence 5. Style and Ornament as Evidence Andrew Morrall 6. Draping the Body and Dressing the Home: Exploring the Material Culture of Textiles and Clothing Beverly Lemire 7. High design and regional cultures Helen Berry 8. Mundane materiality, or, should small things still be forgotten? Material culture, microhistories and the problem of scale Sara Pennell 9. Things and Historical Narratives Giorgio Reillo 10. Objects and Agency Angela McShane & Glenn Adamson