Figurines in Hellenistic Babylonia: Miniaturization and Cultural Hybridity

by: Langin-Hooper, S.M.

n this volume, Stephanie M. Langin-Hooper investigates the impact of Greek art on the miniature figure sculptures produced in Babylonia after the conquests of Alexander the Great. Figurines in Hellenistic Babylonia were used as agents of social change, by visually expressing and negotiating cultural differences. The scaled-down quality of figurines encouraged both visual and tactile engagement, enabling them to effectively work as non-threatening instruments of cultural blending. Reconstructing the embodied experience of miniaturization in detailed case studies, Langin-Hooper illuminates the dynamic process of combining Greek and Babylonian sculpture forms, social customs, and viewing habits into new, hybrid works of art. Her innovative focus on figurines as instruments of both personal encounter and global cultural shifts has important implications for the study of tiny objects in art history, anthropology, classics, and other disciplines.

Provides a comprehensive exploration of miniaturization theory, and adds new advances to the study of tiny objects
Explores cross-cultural interaction and cultural hybridity in dialogue with another theory/methodology (miniaturization) and shows how these concepts can be used together to better understand ancient objects
Provides many case study examples of how to interpret figurines based on their materiality and affective properties

Table of Contents
1. A question of intimacy: miniaturization and figurines
2. Fascination with the tiny: interacting with figurines
3. Three's a crowd: spectatorship of figurines
4. Images of the self: identifying with figurines
5. The global and the local: making cultural and social choices with figurines
6. Conclusion: life in miniature
Bibliography
Index.

Figurines in Hellenistic Babylonia: Miniaturization and Cultural Hybridity

by: Langin-Hooper, S.M.

• ISBN-13: 9781108488143 / 978-1-108-48814-3
• ISBN-03: 1108488145 / 1-108-48814-5
• Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2020