Book Title
Curious Collectors, Collected Curiosities: An Interdisciplinary Study
Type of Work
Book
Files
Publication Date
2010
Editor
Janelle A. Schwartz, Nhora Lucía Serrano
Publisher
Cambridge Scholars
City
Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK
ISBN
9781443823258
Abstract
Curious Collectors, Collected Curiosities: An Interdisciplinary Study asks its readers to enter into an investigation of the nature of collecting as an aesthetic exercise. Spanning the sixteenth century through today, this book gathers together the work of current scholars to re-envision the task of collectors and their collections in broad strokes. Each chapter appropriates the idea of a cabinet of curiosity in order to expand its boundaries of meaning and to complicate our understanding of the acts of display and observation. These chapters also demonstrate that collecting is a universal trope which nevertheless depends on time and place for its particular expressions. Whether the collection is made up of literary texts and criticism, visual art, including mechanical reproductions, taxidermy and photography, historical travelogues, museum exhibitions, blockbuster films, or airline in-flight briefing cards, it conveys an urgent relevance to our consumer age, in which information is abundant and attention is a commodity.
Hamilton Areas of Study
Literature and Creative Writing
Notes
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