Med föremål som källa : En textilhistorikers perspektiv på mötet mellan praktisk kunskap och Material Culture Studies

The interest for doing this study is developed during my time as a student in textile history atUppsala university, Sweden. Textile history, as it is taught in Uppsala, uses both practical andtheoretical knowledge as a base for analysing, understanding and interpreting, textiles as sourcematerial in research. As a student in textile history I have sometimes experienced a lack ofunderstanding for the position it takes in the academic field, both from people within the textilehistorical field and from the outside. In this study, I take the opportunity to explore this position.I understand textile history research as a field in between the practical and theoretical.Knowledge in craft are used as a base for understanding source material, but are then oftenconnected to the theoretical framework of Material culture studies (MCS) for interpretation.But, even though this is an often-used theory, the problems of finding relevant texts and frame-works are difficult.By generating a grounded theory about the field of craft- and practical research in Swe-den, and then moving on to see what kind of literature the field of MCS can offer, I discuss theposition that textile historical research take between them. The generated theory shows that themain concern in the field of practical research are the aim to be an accepted part of the academy.The analysis of the literature in the field of MCS shows that the areas of technology and materialsciences need tools to understand the human aspect of production. From this I conclude thattextile history, as a field that is already part of creating a meeting between practical researchand MCS, could well take up the position to write its own theories. Theories grounded in prac-tical knowledge, but as a part of the field of MCS. Doing that would be of gain for both fields,and for the textile historians inhabiting and creating a meeting in between the fields