Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS v
3. Introduction: The Lives of Objects 1
4. 1 Objects Made Real: The Art of Description 23
5. 2 Citizens of Fallen Cities: Ruins, Diaspora, and the Material Unconscious 42
6. 3 Histories Unwritten in Stone: The Frustrations of Memorialization 67
7. 4 Tertullian of Carthage and the Materiality of Power (with Carly Daniel-Hughes) 85
8. 5 The Perils of Translation: Martyrs’ Last Words and the Cultural Materiality of Speech 107
9. 6 Penetration and Its Discontents: Agency, Touch, and Objects of Desire 124
10. 7 Darkening the Discipline: Fantasies of Efficacy and the Art of Redescription 145
11. Acknowledgments 165
12. Notes 169
13. Bibliography 217
14. Index 231