What's Inside

Chapter 9 examines the obsessive attachment and devotion we often exhibit towards certain possessions. Collecting and fetishism are two unique forms of possessing because, in these practices, it is sometimes not entirely clear who is the possessor and who the possessed. Both people and things have agency, and in these situations, where people invest significant resources into the acquisition and conservation of collectibles and fetish items, the agency of things gains tremendous power. Like fetish objects, collectibles possess symbolic meanings that replace or mask utilitarian meanings. In material culture studies, the concept of fetishism has been assigned positive as well as negative meanings, both of which are central to its discussion. Four key forms of fetishism—religious fetishism, commodity fetishism, sexual fetishism and semiotic fetishism—will be discussed in this chapter.