History and Material Culture: A Student's Guide to Approaching Alternative Sources

by Harvey; Karen

• ISBN13: 9780415468497
• ISBN10: 0415468493
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-04-23
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Sources are the raw material of history, but where the written word has traditionally been seen as the principal source, today historians are increasingly recognizing the value of sources beyond text. In History and Material Culture, Karen Harvey embarks upon a discussion about material culture '¬ ; considering objects, often those found surrounding us in day to day life, as sources, which can help historians develop new interpretations and new knowledge about the past. Across ten 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 are discussed from '¬Üinterdisciplinary'¬" perspectives, each contributor examines how material culture can be approached from an historical viewpoint, and each chapter addresses its theme or approach in a way accessible to readers without expertise in the area. In her introduction, Karen Harvey discusses some of the key issues raised when historians use material culture, and suggests some basic steps for those new to these kinds of sources. Opening up the discipline of history to new approaches, and introducing those working in other disciplines to historical approaches, this book is the ideal introduction to the opportunities and challenges of researching material culture.

Table of Contents

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