What Objects Mean

Arthur Asa Berger, author of an array of texts in communication, popular culture, and social theory, is back with the second edition of his popular, user-friendly guide for students who want to understand the social meanings of objects. In this broadly interdisciplinary text, Berger takes the reader through half a dozen theoretical models that are commonly used to analyze objects. He then describes and analyzes eleven objects, many of them new to this edition—including smartphones, Facebook, hair dye, and the American flag—showing how they demonstrate concepts like globalization, identity, and nationalism. The book includes a series of exercises that allow students to analyse objects in their own environment. Brief and inexpensive, this introductory guide will be used in courses ranging from anthropology to art history, pop culture to psychology. <p>Preface<br><strong>Part I: Theoretical Approaches to Material Culture</strong><br>Chapter 1: Making Sense of Material Culture<br>Chapter 2: A Freudian Psychoanalytic Approach<br>Chapter 3: Semiotic Approaches to Material Culture<br>Chapter 4: Sociological Analysis of Material Culture<br>Chapter 5: Economic Theory, Marxism, and Material Culture<br>Chapter 6: Cultural Theory and Material Culture<br>Chapter 7: Archaeological Theory and Material Culture<br><strong>Part II: Applications</strong>Chapter 8: Exchange<br>Chapter 9: Style<br>Chapter 10: Technology<br>Chapter 11: Globalization<br>Chapter 12: Identity<br>Chapter 13: Transformations<br>Chapter 14: Sociability<br>Chapter 15: Shape<br>Chapter 16: Diffusion<br>Chapter 17: Narratives<br>Chapter 18: Nationalism<br><strong>Part III: Material Culture Games</strong><br>The Artifacts Inventory Game<br>The Time Capsule Game<br>Disciplinary Perspectives on Objects<br>The Grid-Group Theory and Objects Game<br>The Objects and Personal Identity Game</p>