The Material Culture of Writing

The Material Culture of Writing explores writing through the study of material culture, including ink, notebooks, and museum files. It features scholars from various disciplines and methodologies, offering insights into writing identity, work, and genre. The collection is organized into three sections and serves as an accessible introduction to material culture studies for writing studies scholars.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 15 August 2022
Publisher: Utah State University Press

The Material Culture of Writing presents a groundbreaking exploration of writing through the lens of material culture studies. This volume brings together a diverse range of contributors who examine an array of objects, sets of objects, or writing environments to unravel the sociomaterial contexts that shape writing. The artifacts analyzed span both contemporary and historical periods, encompassing a wide range of items such as ink, a Victorian hotel visitors book, Moleskine notebooks, museum conservators files, an early twentieth-century baby book, and a college campus makerspace. Through meticulous close study of these artifacts, scholars in various disciplines, including art, art history, English, museum studies, and writing studies, gain a deeper understanding of what constitutes writing. Moreover, this research opens up exciting possibilities for exploring current and historical inquiries into writing artifacts and environments.

The collection features a diverse group of scholars who serve as teachers, historians, museum curators/conservators, and faculty members. Each chapter offers insights and methodologies from contributors' respective disciplines, while also engaging with the interests of writing studies in writers, writing identity, and writing practice. The authors employ a range of research approaches, including literary analysis, archival research, and qualitative research, providing valuable models for conducting research within a material culture studies framework.

The Material Culture of Writing is structured into three sections: Writing Identity, Writing Work, and Writing Genre. Each section is preceded by a contextualizing introduction from the editors that provides an overview of the chapters and imagines potential directions for writing studies research facilitated by material culture studies. This collection serves as an accessible entry point for writing studies scholars, graduate students, and undergraduates interested in delving into the field of material culture studies.

ISBN-13: 9781646422296