Metaphor And Material Culture

Download or read book Metaphor and Material Culture written by Christopher Tilley and published by Blackwell Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an innovative contribution to debates about the use of metaphor in the social sciences written by one of today's foremost archaeological theorists. Christopher Tilley combines theoretical interpretation with practical examples to show the significance of the concept of metaphor in the study and writing of material forms. The first part of the book provides an overview of the use and value of the notion of metaphor in its broadest sense. Tilley argues that without metaphor human communication would be almost impossible and he shows how metaphors provide the basis for an interpretative understanding of the world. He then presents three archaeological and ethnographic studies of metaphors chosen to demonstrate the richness of the concept for understanding texts, objects and artworks. Part III of the book examines metaphor more specifically in relation to the social construction of landscape and the meaning of place in the prehistoric past and the present. The author concludes by developing elements of a theory of material forms as "solid metaphor". The book will be of interest to all those examining metaphor in its various applications.