[Beth Ellen Jörgensen]

Materiality and Mexican Culture

Material culture—the production, possession, display, gifting and consumption of material goods and the built environment—plays an active role in the construction and reception of socially determined meanings. We measure core cultural values such as authenticity, tradition and progress in part through our relationship with things and spaces in all their decorative and utilitarian forms. Since pre-Hispanic times and up to the present, the people inhabiting the territory we now call Mexico have engaged in the creation and use of complex goods and environments that tell us much about their values, beliefs and relationships with each other and with the material world. This panel organized by the Mexican Forum will present interpretations of examples of Mexican material culture from a range of historical periods. The papers may address the production and consumption of material objects in and of themselves, or the representation of material culture in literature and film. Presentations that incorporate an audio and/or visual element are especially welcome. Abstracts by March 6 to Beth E. Jörgensen. University of Rochester. Email: bjorgensen@ur.rochester.edu

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