Articles liés à The Origins of Monsters: Image and Cognition in the...

The Origins of Monsters: Image and Cognition in the First Age of Mechanical Reproduction - Couverture souple

Livre 1 sur 3: The Rostovtzeff Lectures

Wengrow, David

 
9780691202396: The Origins of Monsters: Image and Cognition in the First Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Couverture souple
ISBN 10 : 0691202397 ISBN 13 : 9780691202396
Editeur : Princeton University Press, 2020

Synopsis

It has often been claimed that "monsters"--supernatural creatures with bodies composed from multiple species--play a significant part in the thought and imagery of all people from all times. The Origins of Monsters advances an alternative view. Composite figurations are intriguingly rare and isolated in the art of the prehistoric era. Instead it was with the rise of cities, elites, and cosmopolitan trade networks that "monsters" became widespread features of visual production in the ancient world. Showing how these fantastic images originated and how they were transmitted, David Wengrow identifies patterns in the records of human image-making and embarks on a search for connections between mind and culture.

Wengrow asks: Can cognitive science explain the potency of such images? Does evolutionary psychology hold a key to understanding the transmission of symbols? How is our making and perception of images influenced by institutions and technologies? Wengrow considers the work of art in the first age of mechanical reproduction, which he locates in the Middle East, where urban life began. Comparing the development and spread of fantastic imagery across a range of prehistoric and ancient societies, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and China, he explores how the visual imagination has been shaped by a complex mixture of historical and universal factors.

Examining the reasons behind the dissemination of monstrous imagery in ancient states and empires, The Origins of Monsters sheds light on the relationship between culture and cognition.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de l'auteur

David Wengrow is professor of comparative archaeology at University College London. His books include The Archaeology of Early Egypt and What Makes Civilization?

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Princeton University Press
Date d'édition
2020
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0691202397
ISBN 13 
9780691202396
Reliure
Broché
Nombre de pages
184
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
gpsr@libri.de
gpsr@libri.de

Europaallee 1
Bad Hersfeld
36244
Allemagne