Art as Culture: An Introduction to the Anthropology of Art / Edition 2

by Evelyn P. Hatcher

Overview

The concept of art as being purely for aesthetic contemplation, that is typical of industrial civilization, is not a very useful one for cross-cultural studies. The majority of the art forms that we see in museums and art books that have come from Native America or Africa or Oceania, are objects that were once part of a larger artistic whole from which they have been extracted. We need to try to piece together and imagine the artistic context as well as the cultural one if we are to attain a deeper sense of the import than the piece available to use provides. Even then, it is almost impossible to define the artistic whole. Perhaps we would do better to regard these pieces as fragments from the lifestyle of a people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780897896283
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/30/1999
Edition description:	Subsequent
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.81(d)
Lexile:	1290L (what's this?)

About the Author

EVELYN PAYNE HATCHER is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at St. Cloud State University, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota. Her previous works published include Art as Culture: An Introduction to the Anthropology of Art (1985).

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Contexts and Comparisons: The Anthropological Approach
Where? The Geographical Dimension
How? The Technological Means
Who? The Psychological Perspective
Why? Social Contexts and Social Functions
"What…?" Art as Communication
When and Whence? The Time Dimension
The Esthetic Mystery
The Global Context-The 15th Century
Globalization-The 20th Century
Glossary
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Hatcher (anthropology, U. of Minnesota) applies the theory and information of her discipline to the study of art to broaden the conception of art beyond the peculiarly industrial idea of it being purely for aesthetic contemplation. She explains how to fit individual pieces into a larger artistic and cultural whole, and suggests that they are fragments from the lifestyle of a people. In the new additional introduction, she mentions no changes from the 1985 edition. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

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