Eighteenth-Century Thing Theory in a Global Context : From Consumerism to Celebrity Culture

Exploring Enlightenment attitudes toward things and their relation to human subjects, this collection offers a geographically wide-ranging perspective on what the eighteenth century looked like beyond British or British-colonial borders. To highlight trends, fashions, and cultural imports of truly global significance, the contributors draw their case studies from Western Europe, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania. This survey underscores the multifarious ways in which new theoretical approaches, such as thing theory or material and visual culture studies, revise our understanding of the people and objects that inhabit the phenomenological spaces of the eighteenth century. Rather than focusing on a particular geographical area, or on the global as a juxtaposition of regions with a distinctive cultural footprint, this collection draws attention to the unforeseen relational maps drawn by things in their global peregrinations, celebrating the logic of serendipity that transforms the object into some-thing else when it is placed in a new locale. Exploring Enlightenment Attitudes Toward Things And Their Relation To Human Subjects, This Collection Offers A Geographically Wide-ranging Perspective On What The Eighteenth Century Looked Like Beyond British Or British-colonial Borders. In Highlighting Trends, Fashions, And Cultural Imports Of Truly Global Significance, The Contributors Celebrate The Logic Of Serendipity That Transforms The Object Into Something Else When It Is Placed In A New Locale. Machine Generated Contents Note: Pt. I Western European Fads: Porcelain, Fetishes, Museum Objects, Antiques -- 1. Caution, Contents May Be Hot: A Cultural Anatomy Of The Tasse Trembleuse / Christine A. Jones -- 2. Cultural Currency: Chrysal, Or The Adventures Of A Guinea, And The Material Shape Of Eighteenth-century Celebrity / Kevin Bourque -- 3. Feather Cloaks And English Collectors: Cook's Voyages And The Objects Of The Museum / Sophie Thomas -- 4. Imagining Ancient Egypt As The Idealized Self In Eighteenth-century Europe / Kevin M. Mcgeough -- Pt. Ii Under Eastern Eyes: Garments, Portraits, Books -- 5. Frills And Perils Of Fashion: Politics And Culture Of The Eighteenth-century Russian Court Through The Eyes Of La Mode / Victoria Ivleva -- 6. From Russia With Love: Souvenirs And Political Alliance In Martha Wilmot's The Russian Journals / Pamela Buck -- 7. The Battle Of The Books In Catherine The Great's Russia: From A Jousting Tournament To A Tavern Brawl / Rimma Garn Pt. Iii Latin American Encounters: Coins, Food, Accessories, Maps -- 8. From Peruvian Gold To British Guinea: Tropicopolitanism And Myths Of Origin In Charles Johnstone's Chrysal / Mauricio E. Martinez -- 9. Eating Turtle, Eating The World: Comestible Things In The Eighteenth Century / Krystal Mcmillen -- 10. The Fur Parasol: Masculine Dress, Prosthetic Skins, And The Making Of The English Umbrella In Robinson Crusoe / Irene Fizer -- 11. Terra Incognita On Maps Of Eighteenth-century Spanish America: Commodification, Consumption And The Transition From Inaccessible To Public Space / Lauren Beck -- Pt. Iv Imagining Other Spaces: Trinkets, Collectibles, Ethnographic Artifacts, Scientific Objects -- 12. (re-)appropriating Trinkets: How To Civilize Polynesia With A Jack-in-the-box / Laure Marcellesi -- 13. Images Of Exotic Objects In The Abbe Prevost's Histoire Generale Des Voyages / Antoine Eche -- 14. Souvenirs Of The South Seas: Objects Of Imperial Critique In Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels / Jessica Durgan. Edited By Ileana Baird And Christina Ionescu. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.