Material Culture: A Research Guide - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0700602747 ISBN 13: 9780700602742

Publisher: University Press of Kansas, 1985

Synopsis

This collection of essays brings together six distinguished scholars in American studies; they examine the progress, problems, and potential of material culture research in America. From an interdisciplinary perspective--representing cultural geography, vernacular architecture, American studies, history of technology, deocrative arts, museum studies, and folklore--thse respected authorities survey the major material culture research and assess the most creative and innovative contemporary research. Thomas J. Schlereth's introductory chapter critically analyzes the value of material culture as a means of studying history through object rather than written documents. He concentrate on both the worth and the difficulties of "above-ground archaeology" as a historical research method. And the following chapters discuss the fields and subfields within material culture, summarize the present scholarly trends, and include current bibliographic information useful to a wide range of scholars.

About this title

Review

"A first-rate, useful work . . . a reference tool of primary importance for students and teachers working in the various fields that constitute the study of American material culture."--Jules D. Prown, author of American Paintings "These essays, which approach the subject from various and important vantage points, . . . will certainly make findings in material culture studies more accessible to scholars in the fields of social history and public history, and also in museum work and preservation work."--Peter Stearns, editor of the Journal of Social History

-A first-rate, useful work . . . a reference tool of primary importance for students and teachers working in the various fields that constitute the study of American material culture.---Jules D. Prown, author of American Paintings -These essays, which approach the subject from various and important vantage points, . . . will certainly make findings in material culture studies more accessible to scholars in the fields of social history and public history, and also in museum work and preservation work.---Peter Stearns, editor of the Journal of Social History

From the Back Cover

The present collection contains essays by scholars who know the scope and significance of material culture within their respective disciplines of cultural geography, vernacular architecture, the history of technology, the decorative arts, and folklife studies. An overview of this breadth cannot fully cover the expansive domain of the material culture.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Publication date: 1985
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0700602747
• ISBN 13: 9780700602742
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 230
• Editor: Schlereth Thomas J.