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African Material Culture is a book written by Mary Arnoldi, Chris Ruud Geary, and Kris Hardin. The book gives the reader stimulating as well as fascinating revelations into the numerous arenas of material culture. The term “material culture” is at most times used by archeologists when referring to concrete things as well as artifacts left by past cultures.
In this case, the “archaeologist” is the person conducting the material culture study of a past society. In the introduction, the authors discuss the relevance of art and ethnographic or history museums by quoting what Ivan Karp stated. Ivan Karp said that ethnographic museums have not done well especially in financial aspects particularly during the post World War II period and that ethnographic museums in the modern world thrive in poverty (Arnoldi et al. 2).
Changing and updating exhibition regularly has become challenging, and this aspect makes ethnographic museums content to appear less important as compared to art or history museums. Karp also adds that universal aesthetics presentation attracts the interest of the public as opposed to the enterprise of coming up with cultural specificity.
This element means that if the public is more interested in universal and formalism categories, the exhibitions, as well as research, should head in the same direction. The authors have used fourteen essays to explain the material culture and show how it comes out in different African cultures. They look into the process of fashioning from quite several various perspectives.
The essays show two main historical moments that exist in the material culture study. Firstly, they underscore the need to be rethinking of the classic dichotomy that exists between context and form-based analyses (Arnoldi et al. 35). Scholars tend to identify this dichotomy as a difference between anthropological and art history analyses.
However, the essays show that anthropologists have tackled form while art historians have handled context, but other scholars have used form and context to their advantage. Secondly, the essays come from a period that knows the influence caused by changing modes of characterizing Africans in the West have affected the African objects ways, which are handled in the scholarly study.
The essays suggest that the appropriating process is part of the day-to-day life; therefore, being able to understand the objects in appropriating needs research, which goes through both national and regional boundaries. The authors continue to assert that to show the use of African objects to come up with African definitions as opposed to being tools for an understanding experience of African material in new ways.
Some strategies continue to emphasize African objects as art. After 1954, several fine arts museums started “Primitive Art” departments and commenced on making collections or augment more actively the existing African collections and non-western sculpture (Arnoldi et al. 102).
The more African objects have to be defined on a formal basis especially as art, the less interested in material culture the field of anthropology becomes. The institutional homeland of anthropology by 1930s changed to the academy in museums mostly in the US and Europe as evolutionary paradigms, and their sole focus was decoration, objects, and technology. A replacement with different interests that were challenging to illustrate in material form existed.
Consequently, material culture interests especially in English and French-speaking countries were slowly triumphing over by the study of aspects of culture and society that were nonmaterial. However, German anthropology maintained its focus on material culture.
As French and English speaking ethnographers who worked in Africa went ahead to observe and write about material culture, this study, which was later seen as the initial research strategy, meant to gain entry into various nonmaterial and esoteric aspects of cultural and social life as opposed to as the end itself (Arnoldi et al. 136).
Material culture studies particularly those that are not within Africa always following the Gerbrand’s dichotomy aesthetes by also putting its focus on studying the object on a formal terms basis. Anthropology was no longer having an interest in material culture, and so there was an increasing interest in African sculptural forms coming from dealers and collectors.
A combination of this interest in a manner that resulted in the African art emergence as an art history field of study existed. Also important to note is the growing of museological, academic and popular interests in Africa as well as African art, which can be associated with some of the biggest political events that also played a part in emphasizing the importance.
According to the authors, the end of the colonial period was equally imperative. As from 1957, African countries got their independence from the colonial powers, which meant a new awareness of Africa. This aspect led to the definition of African objects in terms that were formal like “high art,” which created new and important statements in regards to the African American heritage.
The authors of this book continue to quote other scholars who emphasize the research they did concerning African societies, which did not coincide with that of the western categories. In the past two decades, there has been a shift in the focus of material culture studies done outside Africa to a concern with the relationship of objects onto the societies using or producing them.
One of the authors, Kris Hardin, handled the topic of technology whereby she looks into the technological style mainly three production contexts among the Kono people who hail from eastern Sierra Leone. She wants to prove that sharing of technological style patterns is not always identical; however, the different emphasis usually comes out in different contexts.
Hardin indicates that the Rural Kono people are principally shifting agriculturalists. She goes on to talk about the way Kono people live about agriculture, cloth production, and ceramics (Arnoldi et al. 165). Hardin uses the technique of technological style to delve deeper into the relationship that exists amongst production domains in the Kono area located in Sierra Leone.
She uses an analysis that compares textiles and ceramics production with that of rice. From the book, it is clear that in the African material culture, there exists a network of multidimensional and encompassing objects coupled with scholars as well as information. The association between material culture objects and scholars is primarily information and most especially how the information is gathered, codified, and lastly communicated.
The main network is the one that entails people and especially scholars who are involved in studying the object. There is also information concerning the object involving its use as well as function coupled with its formal and esthetic qualities, while its economic, social, and historical contexts arise from numerous sources.
The published African material culture literature is the visible and formal record of scholarly inquiry about material culture objects. One of the most outstanding features of the book is the fact that the authors used simple language that the reader can read and understand the point they are putting across.
Readers who are not well conversant with archaeology and things such as material culture would also be in a position to understand what material culture is all about. The authors have managed to point out some of the different tribes within Africa. They provide a vivid description of how some of these communities live by using essays that explore African material culture as well as shaping from a variety of different perspectives.
The fact that there is a reference to renowned scholars makes the information provided valid and factual. This aspect shows that the authors took the time to conduct their research well before writing the book. For instance, they quote, Harold Osborne who is a famous theorist and many others. The book is also appealing in a logical or intellectual manner as most of the new things relevant in class or the future, as they are part of history.
History is always part of us no matter how long ago the events happened because we can never move forward without focusing or learning from our history. One of the main challenges in this book is that it is somehow boring, at least some parts of it. There is not much to make it extremely interesting for the reader.
There is too much talk about archaeological research such that it does not give the reader morale to read the entire book. In addition to this aspect, the different essays also rather distract the reader from the main topic, which is material culture. There is too much digression as one essay has this topic while another handles a completely different issue.
The book does not also appeal to the reader on an emotional level despite the fact it has some information that the reader might not be aware of before reading it. Nevertheless, the book is informative concerning the African culture coupled with deep knowledge of African tribes and communities. Also, the reader learns that material culture is a product and not a culture.
Culture has different definitions, and one of them is socially transmitted rules on how people think, behave, and act. Whether in religion, law, or language, culture is learned and mirrored in ways that shape the physical world. On the other hand, material culture is in many cases regarded to be synonymous with artifacts, which are objects that humans use as a coping mechanism.
Consequently, this aspect enables social interaction coupled with benefitting people’s state of mind. After going through the book, material culture can be widely defined as that zone of people’s physical environment, which they change via culturally determined behavior.
Art and culture can be a very motivating topic only if brought out in a manner that will entice and make the reader want to learn more. In most times, people see art as an outdated topic, which belongs to the past, but those who appreciate it are aware of the enormous and invaluable lessons that run deep in art.
Works Cited
Arnoldi, Mary, Christraud Geary, and Kris Hardin. African Material Culture. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1996. Print.
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