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Is there a connection between object diversity and aesthetic sensibility? A comparison between biological domesticates and material culture.

Ellen, Roy F. (2017) Is there a connection between object diversity and aesthetic sensibility? A comparison between biological domesticates and material culture. Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology, 82 (2). pp. 308-330. ISSN 0014-1844. E-ISSN 1469-588X. (doi:10.1080/00141844.2015.1052085) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:50486)

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Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2015.1052085

Abstract

This paper develops the idea that humans cultivate diversity of natural and cultural objects in particular contexts and support this by investing in an aesthetic sensibility. It shows how in studies of crop and livestock management this idea is well-established, and suggests that even when diversity that supports subsistence productivity erodes, diversity of ornamentals consumed recreationally may to some extent replace it. Similar patterns and processes can be seen in other domains, such as the design features of material culture, exemplified here through Nuaulu basketry and shield-making. The final part of the paper examines how the idea of object diversity and its aestheticization plays out when looking at economic and cultural history in the West, under conditions that might be thought to reduce it.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1080/00141844.2015.1052085
Additional information: Online publication 2015, 10 June
Uncontrolled keywords: object diversity, aesthetics, domesticates, material culture
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Depositing User: Roy Ellen
Date Deposited: 13 Sep 2015 07:56 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Feb 2021 13:28 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/50486 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Ellen, Roy F..

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