When a book is not a book: objects as ‘players’ in identity and community formation

Abstract

This article analyzes how objects that are ‘vessels of meaning’ are involved in social interactions that create and maintain identity and community. Specifically, it examines the production and uses of chapbooks within poetry communities. Chapbooks are cheaply produced booklets of poetry that are distributed hand-to-hand rather than through institutionalized publication and distribution systems. The analysis draws from in-depth interviews with poets and ethnographic observation of literary events. By outlining the creation and deployment of chapbooks, a case is made for the centrality of material objects in constitutive social interactions. It is argued that material objects are both cultural products and cultural producers, not only because of their physical characteristics, but because of the ways in which they circulate.