Encountering Novelty

Abstract

Few concepts in the anthropology of colonialism stir as much debate as hybridity, a term borrowed from postcolonial theory in literary studies that—initially at least—was used to refer to the actions of marginalized and subaltern groups to subvert prevailing relations of power. While archaeologists have emphasized group ideologies and personal motivations that promote cultural mixing, the absence of analytical frameworks for modeling how such mixing unfolds in practice makes it difficult to reconcile philosophical debates about hybridity and related approaches. This article lays out such a framework, starting with an assumption that the problem of mixed material culture is structural at its core and thus requires a structural solution. Building on the conception of social structure promoted by sociologist William Sewell Jr., the proposed model considers the incorporation of novel forms at two different loci of agency—the object and the assemblage—and through their respective practices of production and consumption. The object-assemblage model is used, in turn, to explore a colonial encounter between the Native town of Joara and the Spanish garrison, Fort San Juan, from 1566 to 1568, uniquely allowing us to envision how native and settler participants engaged new ideas and resources to transform their material cultures.