Throughout the nineteenth century, social expressions and dynamics have been reflected in the surge of various printed products. The contributors analyze a diverse range of sources, such as caricatures, journalistic reports, travelogues, scholarly volumes, social novels, and fairytale collections, viewing them as early manifestations of social knowledge and ethnographic representation situated at the confluence of ›popular‹ and ›scientific‹ publishing. Their comprehensive exploration unveils alternative contexts and dimensions of early ethnographic knowledge production, providing insights into a history of social knowledge that surpasses disciplinary, national, and genre-related boundaries.

Christiane Schwab (Edited by) Christiane Schwab is a professor of European ethnology and cultural analysis at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Since May 2020, she has been the principal investigator of the ERC project »Dissecting Society. Nineteenth-Century Sociographic Journalism and the Formation of Ethnographic and Sociological Knowledge«. Besides the history of social thought, she focuses on urban and regional studies.Frauke Ahrens (Edited by) Frauke Ahrens is a PhD candidate at the Institute of European Ethnology and Cultural Analysis at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Since June 2020, she has been a part of the ERC project »Dissecting Society. Nineteenth-Century Sociographic Journalism and the Formation of Ethnographic and Sociological Knowledge«. Her research focuses on the history of science and historical approaches to cultural analysis, material culture, the materiality of knowledge, and scientific collections.Karin Riedl (Edited by) Karin Riedl (PhD) is a cultural anthropologist and postdoctoral researcher working on the ERC research project »Dissecting Society. Nineteenth-Century Sociographic Journalism and the Formation of Ethnographic and Sociological Knowledge« at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. She has conducted research in the constructions of indigeneity in nineteenth-century Peru, the relationship between non-monogamy and neoliberalism, and the appropriation of shamanism in modern arts.