Feierabendziegel: Roof tiles with celestial bodies on them, and how they are relevant for understanding experiences of contingency
-
Anne Storch
Abstract
Before the very recent introduction of industrially produced roof tiles and bricks, such building materials were made by hand. In many parts of central Europe, brickmakers were mainly migrant workers, who occupied the margins wherever they went. Traces they left behind include obscene language and drawings, images and notes about daily life, as well as magical and religious symbols and language. Many decorated roof tiles of the early modern period, and sometimes well into the beginning of the industrial age, allow for an insight into marginalized language practices, such as transgressive language, and multilingual practices. This paper describes, analyses, and contextualizes the language and literacy practices of marginalized people in the (post)colonial metropole by focusing on lesser studied building materials and material culture.
Abstract
Before the very recent introduction of industrially produced roof tiles and bricks, such building materials were made by hand. In many parts of central Europe, brickmakers were mainly migrant workers, who occupied the margins wherever they went. Traces they left behind include obscene language and drawings, images and notes about daily life, as well as magical and religious symbols and language. Many decorated roof tiles of the early modern period, and sometimes well into the beginning of the industrial age, allow for an insight into marginalized language practices, such as transgressive language, and multilingual practices. This paper describes, analyses, and contextualizes the language and literacy practices of marginalized people in the (post)colonial metropole by focusing on lesser studied building materials and material culture.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Language in strange and familiar places: A short introduction 1
- The eternal and the ephemeral 9
- Language preservation in strangely familiar places: How traditional skills have helped preserve Shaetlan 39
- Hidden landscapes and the images of the “unseen”: from north-west Amazonia to the Middle Sepik region of New Guinea 75
- The intersection of language, religion, identity, and scholarship: Opportunities for the revitalization of Ge’ez 131
- Speaking of oneself in multi-term evidential systems: From the Himalayas to Amazonia 149
- Ideological and communicative perspectives on divination amongst the people of Northern Ghana 193
- Beyond participants–researchers–research outsiders: food talk and the (co-)construction of knowledge in multi-sited participatory ethnography 223
- Making and selling Greek food in London: Migrant hospitality professionals talk about food authenticity over dinner 257
- Feierabendziegel: Roof tiles with celestial bodies on them, and how they are relevant for understanding experiences of contingency 287
- Index of authors 329
- Index of subjects 335
- Index of languages, language families, areas, and peoples 339
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Language in strange and familiar places: A short introduction 1
- The eternal and the ephemeral 9
- Language preservation in strangely familiar places: How traditional skills have helped preserve Shaetlan 39
- Hidden landscapes and the images of the “unseen”: from north-west Amazonia to the Middle Sepik region of New Guinea 75
- The intersection of language, religion, identity, and scholarship: Opportunities for the revitalization of Ge’ez 131
- Speaking of oneself in multi-term evidential systems: From the Himalayas to Amazonia 149
- Ideological and communicative perspectives on divination amongst the people of Northern Ghana 193
- Beyond participants–researchers–research outsiders: food talk and the (co-)construction of knowledge in multi-sited participatory ethnography 223
- Making and selling Greek food in London: Migrant hospitality professionals talk about food authenticity over dinner 257
- Feierabendziegel: Roof tiles with celestial bodies on them, and how they are relevant for understanding experiences of contingency 287
- Index of authors 329
- Index of subjects 335
- Index of languages, language families, areas, and peoples 339
