From Passion to Possessiveness Collectors and Collecting in a Symbolic Perspective Bjarne Rogan l{ogan, Bj arne1996: From Passion to Post;essiveness. Collectors and Collecting in a Symbolic Pert;peciive. - Ethnologia Europaea 26: 65-79. Collcciing is n pastime thnt haR become immensely popular, especially during tlw lnst two or three decades. li is et;timated that one in three per�ons in the adult. population in western industrialized countries is or has been a collector. As a pastime collecting easily turns into an engrossing passion or even addiction, with immoderation and sometimes transgression of moral and legal rules in its wake. ln popular opinion collecting, even in it� moderate and normal lorms, is surpris­ ingly often referred to in terms of passion and love and compared to eroticit;m. So is also the case in fiction , where the collector character abounds. The aim of the article is to discuss the systematic character ofrhetorical figuresin this discourse on collecting. 'J'hesc ligures, most often comparisons and metaphors, arc invcsti­ ga ted as a symbolic way of understanding the ambiguous phenomena of collecting and possessiveness. As the usc of concepts like symbol and symbolism arc rat her unclear in the ethnological tradition, the author argues for a pragmatic use ofsome structuralist ideas to grasp their systematic character. This article concentrates upon symbolic perspectives on collecting, whereas the author's research proj ect on collecting comprises topics like gender, consumption, socialization, etc., as well aR the history of collecting. Bjarne Rogan, Prof"essor of" Ethnology, University of" Oslo, lnstitutt lo r lw ltur­ studiei; Box 1010Blindem, N-03150slo, Norway. E-mail: bjarne.rogan@iks. uio.no. logists. Second, there is a systematic use of Introductory remarks "symbols" in my material that invites for fur­ The fo llowing discussion springs from two dif­ ther reflexion. fe rent but linked problems. The first is how to The material stems partly fr om my own cope with the phenomenon of passion in cultur­ indepth interviews with circa 50 collectors, with al analysis. The second is the concepts of symbol collections ranging fr om bric-a-brac and "in­ and symbolism and their use in ethnology. Re­ stant collectibles" to books, coins and fine art, search on private collectors and collecting has and partly fr om biographical sources, written confronted me with an amazingly rich forest of statements in collectors' magazines, etc., and ­ "symbols" (in a wide sense of the term, includ­ not least - fiction. ing comparisons, metaphors, metonomies, par­ The first andlonge st section ofthe article is allelisms ...) that compare collecting to passion, a presentation and discussion of some empiri­ love and eroticism. These rhetorical figures, cal findsfr om my study of collecting, the second used in common parlance as well as in literary discusses symbols and symbolism, and the final texts, might conveniently be termed symbols tries to build a bridge between the two. Before and the use of them symbolism, and then fu r­ embarking on this journey, the reader deserves ther discussion could be dropped. However, this a quick glimpse ofthe passionate collectors that would be unsatisfactory for two reasons. First, constitute the empirical basis for the later dis­ there is a bewildering diversity and lack of cussions. The first quotation is fr om fiction - precision in the use of these terms by ethno- where an American collector of Indian wicker 65 basket:; is chuttin� to a ca::;uul listcner- and the for advertisements. Last year F ren c h TV second from an i n terv iew w ith a Da n i sh collec­ screened u pu bl icity sketch fo r a lottery ; a tor of folk uri: collector scraped a ticket, lound that he had won Ff 5.000 - and glued it on u wall th a t was "Listen, pa l , he says w ith n w i n k, you stand already crammed with other tickets, with the B rigi tte Bardoi next to a museum qu u lity Tlin­ comment: "Dammit, another copy of the same git I basket! and 1 wou ldn't sec her. r got a re a l ticket!" The sketch works because people know n ice Tlingit, by the way, got it at auction fo r that collectors' madness surpasses most other eigh tee n bucks. A stcul. U:s worth much more. eccen tricities . Pretty scarce" (Connell 1974:38). If this is a common image of the collector, then why not leave the topic to psychologists "From ti me to time f h uvc f()U nd something th at and psychiatrists, who - by the way - also take 1 had to have, but thut 1 couldn't af"ford. 1 have a professional interest in symbols and symbol­ waited as much us twenty years to have the ism? The answer is that collecting is normal chance to acquire certain objects. Then J have behaviour, actually so normal that nearly one been awake all n igh t, sitting and just looking at third of the adult population in countries like it. It's just like being recently engaged to be the US, the UK and France takes part in it, or married. There is a need for that experience - has done so during periods of their adult lives something that may make people believe that (Attali 1989, Belk 1995, Pearce 1995). Also, you are erotically taken in by the object loqject­ some 90% of all schoolchildren collect. This erotomani. That's what l am, actually! I may presupposes a broad definitionof collecting, but become quite excited; many times your emo­ there is no reason to doubt that the percentage tional life towards such an object is more in­ of persons practising some sort of collecting is tense than towards another person. It's not approximately the same in most western coun­ exactly the same fe eling as falling in love, but tries. And among one third of the population the intensity is the same 1 ... 1 "(Jacobsen, in Ohrt there will always be a good number of border­ og Seisbfllll 1992:73, trans!. BR) line cases, which does not exclude the cultural analyst fr om the field. (For a thorough discus­ In addition to the discourse on collecting and sion of collecting fr om a psychological point of eroticism, to be investigated here, there is a view, see Muensterberger 1994.) related discourse on collecting and madness, The reader should be warned that the fo llow­ covering the whole fieldfr om fr enzy to lunacy. ing discussion will draw the portrait of a collect­ Collectors tend to joke and flirt withtheir incli­ ing male. This does not mean that only men nations and talk humorously about their "dis­ collect. Women probably practise collecting to ease" or "insanity". A quick look in dictionaries the same extent that men do. Still, the idea that reveals that collectors are commonly consid­ collecting is a masculine activity prevails, among eredpassionate, obsessive, filledwith immoder­ collectors as well as in society in general. This ate desire, or - on the other side ofthe Channel idea is especially persistent in the popular dis­ - passionne, fe rvent, obsede, fo rcene, fe roce, course on collecting and eroticism. (For a dis­ maniaque, in their passion insatiable for ob­ cussion of gender and collecting, see Belk 1995, jects - and they may suffer fr om une collection­ Pearce 1995, Rogan 1996.) nite aigue. Even if this discourse may blend with the erotic one, it will seldom qualify as Passion and eroticism in collecting "symbolic", as it is widely known that quite a few collectors only too easily transgress moral A note on collectors and collecting in fi ction and legal boundaries and upset family economy In his anthology Breasts (1993 and earlier ed.) and personal relations in their hunt for desired Ramon Gomez de la Serna presents an artful, objects. The image of the slightly mad collector subtle and condensed sketch named The Collec­ lies at the bottom of the recurrent use of them tor. In spite of its brevity, it communicates many in media, in entertainment programs as well as themes for an analysis of collecting; a creative 66 gaze and a sense of aestheticism, Lhe play aspect IDEA l. GIFT FOR THE MAN and the thrill of the find, a good portion of passion and a Li ngo of madness, an erotic loading WHO HAS HAD EVERYTHING f and a cert ain possessiveness, a ma le and mascu­ line activity with a stamp of absu rd i ty, irration­ Capture ality and futi lity - and the perish ability of the collection. Here i n a slighily abridged version : the big excitement "There is a l ady aski ng f(H' you , Sir", ::;ays the fe male servant to the collector of breasts 1 ... 1 of the "Let her in", says the collector, while adapt­ world's ing his positi on in Lhe office chair in order to fi nd greatest a suitable a ngle and distance fur the examina­ tion, as if adjusting his opera glasses. hunt with The woman had delicate fe atures and slen­ your own der arms. l�verything about h er was graceful, but her breasts were so opulent that they seemed to greet the collector even before she had the alia Americana time to reach out her hand w ith well -groomed nails. "What can I do for you?", he asks. "Well, to be honest ... Yo u are a collector of breasts, aren't you? Well, here are mine ..." The collector regretted not having his collec­ tor's glasses at hand to put them immediately on his nose, but compensated by leaning back­ New trophy room conversation wards in the chair 1 .