To be civilized involves, among other things, making, using, and
buying objects. Although speculation on the significance of objects
often tends to be casual, there are professionals--anthropologists,
historians, semioticians, Marxists, sociologists, and
psychologists--who analyze material culture in a systematic way and
attempt to elicit from it reliable information about people,
societies, and cultures. One reason that analyzing objects has been
problematical for scholars is the lack of a sound methodology
governing multidisciplinary research. Reading Matter addresses this
problem by defining a comprehensive set of methodological
approaches that can be used to analyze and interpret material
culture and relate it to personality and society.
Berger offers discussions of the main concepts found in
semiotic, historical, anthropological, psychoanalytic, Marxist, and
sociological analysis. He provides practical descriptions of the
working methods of each discipline and demarcates their special
areas of investigation. Berger's lively discussions include a
wealth of illustrative examples that help to clarify the complex
and often difficult theories that underlie interpretations of
material culture. In the second part of his analysis, Berger uses
these disciplines to investigate one subject--fashion and an
important aspect of fashion, blue jeans, and what the author calls
the "denimization" phenomenon. Here he shows how different methods
of "reading" material culture end up with different perspectives on
things--even when they are dealing with the same topic.
The author's focus is on the material culture of post-literate
societies and cultures, both contemporary and historical. This
comparative approach enables the reader to trace the evolution of
objects from past to present or to see how American artifacts
spread to different cultures, acquiring a wholly new meaning in the
process. "Reading Matter" is an important contribution to the study
of popular culture and social history. It will be of interest to
sociologists, anthropologists, and cultural historians.
"Arthur Asa Berger" is professor emeritus of broadcast and
electronic communication arts at San Francisco State University and
series editor of Transaction's Communication and Mass Culture and
Humor Studies series. He is the author of many books including
"Manufacturing Desire" and "Agitpop."
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