Igor kopytoff biography of things

Object biographies

In this next section I shift focus to consider how the concept of biography has been used to explore how objects change. The concept of the cultural biography of objects came to archaeology from the work of Igor Kopytoff () in an edited volume exploring commodities and exchange practices (Appadurai, ). Kopytoffs () argument suggested that things (and commodities specifically) are subject to change so their meaning cannot only be understood at a single point in time. They move through production, exchange, and consumption processes, all of which change their function, meaning, and relationship with people; Kopytoff parallels this changing history with how the lives of people change. He argues, therefore, that just as we employ biography as a tool to narrate the histories of people, so too, we can employ it to narrate the lives of things: “in doing the biography of a thing, one would ask questions similar to those one asks about people” (Kopytoff, 66).

Kopytoffs original argument has been adapted and modified by numerous authors to explore how both people and objects change. Janet Hoskins (; see also ), for example, has used objects as a way of investigating

Paper 1. The cultural biography of things

Reading responses: You are expected to be actively involved in the course, and a key element of this is reading all assigned material in order to meaningfully contribute to class discussion. You are required to turn in 10 separate written response papers of pages each, each paper addressing the reading assigned for any 10 individual days, maximum of one response per day (you have about 25 days to choose from). These are due on the day for which each reading is assigned (no late responses accepted) and will be graded pass/fail. During the reading think about the questions listed below and take notes. Then, in your response paper address one or more of these questions, or other questions and thoughts that arise during your reading. This will also help you prepare for the midterm and final essays. Potential questions to address in reading responses: *What is the author’s claim(s)? How does she or he explain and support their argument(s)? Do you agree? *What would one or two of the other authors we have encountered so far in the course say about this claim? *How does the text develop our sociological understanding of the world: which sociol

Igor Kopytoff

Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania
Contact Information

Major Research Interests

I am a general practitioner in cultural anthropology, with an ethnographic focus on Africa and with some past research in northern Asia. More specifically, my interests, research, and publications deal with social structure, political organization, and religion - and the process of transformation in them. I have also worked and published on slavery as a general cultural phenomenon, with a special interest in indigenous slavery in Africa as a culture-historical phenomenon. I have done fieldwork in the Congo, Cameroon, and the Ivory Coast.

Contact Information

IGOR KOPYTOFF
Professor of Anthropology

Anthropology
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia. Pa

kopytoff@

Born April 16, , in Mukden, China. Raised in Shanghai, where attended French primary school (Ste. Jeanne d’Arc) and English secondary school (St. Francis Xavier’s College). In moved to Chile (Santiago and Chuquicamata), in
to BritishEastAfrica (Tanganyika and Kenya), and in to the UnitedStates (Evanston, Ill).

HIGHER EDUCATION: Northwestern

Stuart Hall Library reading group discussion post

Thursday 10th March

Kopytoff, Igor 'The cultural biography of things: commodification as process' in Arjun Appadurai (ed.) The social life of things: commodities in cultural perspective. Cambridge UP, (reprint ), pp.

Thanks to everyone that attended this month's reading group discussion. For those unable to attend a recording of the discussion is now available via the library website here. You can also listen to recordings of all our previous reading group discussions and download a copy of suggested reading materials.

Key questions and points for discussion

What did you think of the text - any initial thoughts?

Koytoff defines commodity as 'an item with use value that also has exchange value' p - do you agree?

According to Kopytoff, commodities are subject to value judgements and are also subject to historical cultural shifts in value. They are also subject to classification and taxonomic practices. (p;70)

Commodities and people are viewed as being at either end of a continuum, but individiuals have and continue to be 'commoditized'/commodified under the term slavery.