1_Chapter 1: Making Sense of Material Culture

What is material culture?
1. "A collective name for all the behavior patterns socially acquired and transmitted by mean of symbols...also material instruments or artifacts in which cultural achievements are embodied" (17).
  1. Material culture allows us to better understand societies and cultures if we are able to "read" how the objects were produced and used.
    1. Culture
      1. Recurrent patterns of social behavior connected to artefacts, beliefs, customs, traditions, and values.
        "the objects tell you about the culture, and the culture tells you about the objects" (22).
  2. Analyzing Material Culture
    1. Semiotic Analysis
      1. using clues given by objects, artifacts, facial expression, body language, etc. to draw conclusions about activities and identities
        Sherlock Holmes
        The Blue Carbuncle
        "hat example" Watson vs. Sherlock
        knowledge
        attentive to details
        makes inferences
    2. Perspectivism
      1. Nietzsche
      2. multi-disciplinary approach to knowledge
        What do we do when experts disagree?
      3. needs
      4. interpretation
      5. The Rashomon Problem
    3. Theories
      1. "Theories are like goggles that help determine the way we see the world, that point our attention to certain things, and distract us from others."
      2. all theories are partial and have limitations
    4. Nature of Theory
    5. Freudian psychoanalytic theory
      1. consciousness
      2. pre-consciousness
      4. unconscious

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1_Chapter 1: Making Sense of Material Culture

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