Description
Book SynopsisExplicating the relationship between theory, method, and interpretation, The Art of Contact destabilizes categories such as orientalism and Hellenism and offers fresh perspectives on Greek and Phoenician art history.
Trade Review"This is a book that deserves to be widely read. It combines exceptional theoretical sophistication with detailed engagements with works of art, their material affordances, and the specifics of their contexts of production and consumption. It is chock full of new arguments and insights that specialists in classical and Mediterranean art will wish to engage with." *
American Journal of Archaeology *
"With an array of theories, [Martin] aims to free Phoenician art from the shadows by avoiding the presumption that Greek art was superior to that of the Near East. By selectively choosing examples of canonical works of art and relevant postcolonial theories, [she] pieces together innovative and thought-provoking ideas that prioritize the Phoenicians . . . With its successful organization and methods, the book marks a major contribution." *
Classical Journal *
"This thoughtful and stimulating book tackles a central issue of the ancient Mediterranean world-the 'art of contact'-through focused consideration of the relationship between 'Greek' and 'Phoenician' art. The author brings to this complex topic both archaeological expertise and academic training as an art historian, conjoined skills that shed welcome light on the Classical and Hellenistic eras." *
Journal of the American Oriental Society *
"An entirely original book. Becky Martin opens the imagination to a new array of methodological possibilities and a series of important and provocative interpretations of particular works of art and genres of historical objects." * Josephine Crawley Quinn, University of Oxford *
Table of ContentsMaps
Introduction
Chapter 1. Culture, Contact, and Art History: Framing the Theoretical Landscape
Chapter 2. Arts of Contact
Chapter 3. Exceptional Greeks and Phantom Phoenicians
Chapter 4. The Rise of Phoenicianism
Chapter 5. Hybridity, the Middle Ground, and the "Conundrum of 'Mixing'"
Conclusion
Notes
Works Cited
Index
Acknowledgments
