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Narcissus's Mirror: Manufacture and Modernism in the American Great Basin—The Case of Pottery

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Abstract

The commodification of pottery cannot be reduced to strict econo-technological terms. Commodification is a cultural process, enmeshed in local, regional, and international systems of meaning. As Victorian Modernism eroded, anti-modern movements commodified “traditional” culture. These philosophies, themselves commodities, had repercussions on the pottery industry throughout the world. In both America and Australia, these processes produced art and studio potteries. In the American Great Basin, these changes were experienced very differently by potters from different cultures. The commodification and industrialization of modern pottery factories predicated the reification of a pre-industrial artisanal past.

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Scarlett, T.J. Narcissus's Mirror: Manufacture and Modernism in the American Great Basin—The Case of Pottery. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 3, 167–175 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021910019795

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021910019795

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