1st Edition
Material Culture and Kinship in Poland An Ethnography of Fur and Society
By Siobhan Magee
Copyright 2019
192 Pages
by
Routledge
192 Pages
by
Routledge
192 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
In this ethnography of Krakowian society, Siobhan Magee explores essential questions on the relationship between fur and culture in Poland. How can wearing a fur coat indicate someone's political views in Krakow, beyond their opinion on animal rights? What kinds of associations are given to someone wearing a fur coat in Poland? And what impact does generational difference have on the fur-wearing... Read more
Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Of Grandmothers And Gratitude: Inheriting Fur, Inheriting Class 2. Working At Home 3. Fur Families 4. Experiments in Fur 5. Excesses of the Normal Conclusion Bibliography Index
Biography
Siobhan Magee is Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
"In this rich and engaging ethnography of a peculiar type of clothing, Magee puts forward a daring claim: one needs to understand fur if one wants to understand contemporary Poland. This book will be essential reading for those interested in thinking critically about the co-production of kinship and material culture. - Magdalena Craciun, Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Bucharest, RomaniaThis book is a fascinating exploration of the many dimensions of two apparently quite distinct things, kinship and fur, and the surprising and unexpected ways that they in fact overlap, intersect and shape each other in the context of the Polish middle and upper classes in Krakow. Siobhan Magee uses fur as a lens through which to examine and probe relations between generations, particularly grandmothers and granddaughters, the economic, moral and affective significance of inheritance, and ideas about sameness, identity and difference. On another level she also maps out the complex social life of fur, and its processes of production, marketing and consumption. Beautifully written, the book is a perceptive study of middle class Polish kinship. - Frances Pine, Emerita Reader in Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UKMaterial Culture and Kinship in Poland is a brilliant exploration of Krakowian sociality and politics. In this superb ethnography of the simultaneously mundane and uncanny material of fur, Magee shows how inheritance, generational relations, style, and morality intertwine to shape the vitality of historical politics in contemporary Poland. - Jessica Robbins, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Gerontology and Department of Anthropology, Wayne State University, USA"
