Anthropology of Color

“Nobody can tell where Rob MacLaury’s inquisitive mind would have led him in years to come in his passionate quest for an anthropology of color. But this collection is certainly a testament to what he had set out to accomplish. Galina Paramei and Don Dedrick are to be commended for seeing it through to publication and making it available to an interdisciplinary and international public that will no doubt benefit from it and further advance this complex and fascinating field.”

“This is an important volume for the breadth of collected papers it presents which share the focus of culture and perceptual color experience. The volume's contents span several disciplines and will appeal to readers of anthropology, linguistics, psychology, socio-cultural studies, and semiotics. Some of its articles present analyses of phenomena from languages and dialects that are quickly disappearing from the world; whereas others catalog more esoteric or ancient features of studied languages – quite possibly presenting the first thorough accounting of such features in an English language volume. The collected information contained in this volume is essential for understanding universal features in color perception and cognition as distinct from the culturally relative factors inherent in the phenomena.”

“This collection of 26 original essays on color categorization is remarkable for its breadth: from individual perception and cognition to social construction, from the evolution of color terms in Greek, Coptic, and Japanese to the uses of color terms in fashion and the semiosis of Swedish car color names. Along with the work of established researchers in the field, we encounter gratifyingly many new voices and new perspectives from 14 countries and several disciplines. Here there is much to learn, to argue, and to ponder.”

“Reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of the field, Anthropology of Color brings together a mixture of field summaries, tutorials and introductions to specialist areas, including anthropology, psychology, linguistics, design, philosophy etc. It also includes work from Eastern Europe which will be new to most readers from Western Europe and North America. Paramei and Dedrick have worked wonders bringing together a collection on this scale as well as both contributing excellent chapters. The book will become an essential addition to the personal libraries of workers in this very broad area and a mandatory acquisition for academic libraries. It will function as a handbook for the area, selected chapters will be used to guide new researchers and final year students, and even the curious general reader will find it tantalising.”

“Discussions of colour cognition must be grounded in empirical evidence about how people actually use colour words. This volume contains such evidence, drawn from a range of language families and aspects of culture, and a variety of contemporary and historical sources. I was impressed by the multifaceted nature of colour research, and of colour language itself – its multiplicity of cultural associations and cultural expressions.”

“[...] an impressively diverse collection and a testimony of what (forgive the pun) a colorful field color categorization is.”

“[...] a fascinating and challenging collection of papers. The book is essential reading for researchers in the field of color naming and could also be captivating reading for those new to the area.”