
Capturing Imagination
A Proposal for an Anthropology of Thought
Carlo Severi(Author)
Hau (Publisher)
Published on 15. June 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
260 pages
978-0-9991570-0-8 (ISBN)
Description
We have all found ourselves involuntarily addressing inanimate objects as though they were human. For a fleeting instant, we act as though our cars and computers can hear us. In situations like ritual or play, objects acquire a range of human characteristics, such as perception, thought, action, or speech. Puppets, dolls, and ritual statuettes cease to be merely addressees and begin to address us-we see life in them.
How might we describe the kind of thought that gives life to the artifact, making it memorable as well as effective, in daily life, play, or ritual action? Following The Chimera Principle, in this collection of essays Carlo Severi explores the kind of shared imagination where inanimate artifacts, from non-Western masks and ritual statuettes to paintings and sculptures in our own tradition, can be perceived as living beings. This nuanced inquiry into the works of memory and shared imagination is a proposal for a new anthropology of thought.
How might we describe the kind of thought that gives life to the artifact, making it memorable as well as effective, in daily life, play, or ritual action? Following The Chimera Principle, in this collection of essays Carlo Severi explores the kind of shared imagination where inanimate artifacts, from non-Western masks and ritual statuettes to paintings and sculptures in our own tradition, can be perceived as living beings. This nuanced inquiry into the works of memory and shared imagination is a proposal for a new anthropology of thought.
More details
Edition
Translated ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
IL
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
95 color plates
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
522 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-9991570-0-8 (9780999157008)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2018
HAU
€31.49
Available for download
Person
Carlo Severi is directeur d'etudes at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.