ANTHROPOLOGY OF COLLECTING

Abstract

A cultural analysis of collecting as a process affecting the life world of a person and the formation of his worldview has been carried out. It has been proven that collecting is a unique form of personal involvement in culture. Collecting is a way of realizing the cultural “I”, a form of autonomous goal-setting, individualization of the collector’s choice as an individual. A methodological turn in modern humanities knowledge towards rhealogy as an analysis of the world of things in everyday cultural practices has been revealed. This allows us to interpret the symbolism of things in the process of collecting as a form of personal rootedness in the being of culture. The main methodological principle on which the article is based is the principle of allegorism, konstellation. It was found that the anthropology of collecting is a sign of cultural reflection based on a person’s own history. As a cultural institution, collecting is an ordered norm of cultural objects. They form a cultural layer that defines symbolic capital. It is substantiated that the collection institute aims not only to collect, index, systematize, and store. Collecting cultural values creates a multifactorial space. Modern anthropology of collecting involves a special attitude to objects. The collector transfers them from the category of goods to the category of memories. Memories define a new way of thinking, look for a new expression: fragmentary, quotable, which turns the compiler into an author. It is proven that thanks to such an author’s metamorphosis, a new methodology emerges. It is based on the fact that collecting appears as a special worldview. It is well-founded that a collector is able to give meaning and value to things. The phenomenon of collecting is analyzed as a kind of universal intellectual, philosophical and cultural activity. It shows the world the values chosen by the collector. The empirical basis of the article is the authors’ own collections of Ukrainian porcelain sculptures of small forms.