ABSTRACT
A main principle of cultural analysis is the close reading of texts, images, material objects, and practices. Yet, for cultural analysis, meaning is not text-immanent. Rather, it depends on the act of framing: an act performed in the present, with critical, political, and ethical implications. Prior to framing, however, one first gathers, compiles, or assembles objects. This gathering too is neither neutral nor objective. It enables the researcher to be critical and political, bringing with it what can be seen as the most important characteristic of cultural analysis: its contemporaneity, implying togetherness of different historical moments and periods and enabling their comparison. In this chapter I demonstrate these different acts on the basis of my recent book.
