What is Material Culture?

About the lecture

In this module, we introduce the concept of material culture and explore its place in Early Modern England, focusing especially on: (i) material culture as the environment and objects within which and through which meaning is made, (ii) the crucial role non-human actors play in our activities, (iii) the consumer revolution in Early Modern England, and how important 'things' were in people's lives, especially given the population's semi-literacy, (iv) the crucial role dress played in social hierarchy, and the ability to challenge this hierarchy through the costumes of the actors on the stage, and (v) how an understanding of an object's role in different social contexts can help us understand how audiences experienced and interpreted Shakespeare's plays.

About the lecturer

Catherine Richardson is Professor of Early Modern Studies and Director of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries at the University of Kent. Her research focuses on the relationship between texts and the material circumstances of their production and consumption. Her publications include Shakespeare and Material Culture (2011) and (as co-author) A Day at Home in Early Modern England: Material Culture and Domestic Life, 1500-1700 (2017).