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Fascination with the tiny

Social negotiation through miniatures in Hellenistic Babylonia

Bibliographic Data

ID3919908
AuthorsStephanie M Langin-Hooper (0000-0003-1921-3922, Southern Methodist University, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume47
Issue1
Pages60-79
Publication date2015-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWorld Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00438243.2014.991803
OpenAlexW2081444821
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited25

The tremendous diversity and variety of miniature objects in Hellenistic Babylonia reflects a social environment of intensive cross-cultural interaction and widespread change. Considering the aspect of miniaturization itself reveals how tiny things participated in this social transformation. Through their appealing and non-threatening materiality, miniatures established an intimate connection with their users that encouraged identity sharing and illusions of power over the outside world. Miniatures of performing bodies, such as musicians and theatrical masks, induced users to experiment with new enactments of Greek cultural identities. Soldiers, deities and other powerful bodies in miniature enabled fantasies of control over the wars and political upheavals endemic to Hellenistic Babylonia. Display-oriented figurines depicting interpersonal relationships encouraged self-identification and shaped new ideals of social behaviour. The miniature objects of Hellenistic Babylonia were more than just witnesses to social change; they were also participants in the processes of negotiating new identity norms for this multicultural society

Aesthetics · Art · Identity (music · Literature · Multiculturalism · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Social group · Social identity theory · Social science · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Ancient Near East History · Anthropology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law

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    Open Access•Emma-Jayne Graham•The Classical Review•2025

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    Open Access•Kathryn E Howley•Cambridge Archaeological Journal•2020

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    Open Access•Stephanie M Langin-Hooper, STEPHANIE M LANGIN‐HOOPER•Oxford Journal of Archaeology•2007

  • The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India

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Unique citing works16
Citations per year1,6
Citation span2016 - 2025 (10)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 15
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