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The paper discusses the origins of the concept of material culture and its place in humanities today. Approaches to non-human environment in archaeology, ethnography, city planning, sociology, philosophy and art will be analysed to identify models of thinking about objects and spaces, as well as ways of using this knowledge to understand or influence the world and ourselves. Special consideration will be given not only to manifestations of material culture in our conscious day-to-day functioning, but also to those objects, places and non-lieux which exist outside central fields of attention and happen to be thrust into the limelight through the trauma or art. The paper will also examine aspects of material culture typically selected as curricular or coursebook content in language education in order to gain insight into its role in language teaching and identify its uncovered potential. Implications for the process of developing sociocultural knowledge and intercultural competence in foreign language teaching and teacher education will also be sought.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-91104-5_3

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