A House Turned Inside Out

Inhabiting Space in a Yemeni City

Bibliographic Data

ID2391341
AuthorsGabriele Vom Bruck (London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume2
Issue2
Pages139-172
Publication date1997-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Material Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/135918359700200201
OpenAlexW2158660358
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited34

Based on the analysis of the organization of space in Yemen, this article explores whether Bourdieu's model of the Kabyle house is applicable outside Algeria. While agreeing with Bourdieu's contention that spatial meanings are invoked through the practice of men and women, I argue that the embodiment of socio-spatial divisions is contingent upon both gender and non-gender-based principles such as age and status affiliation. I suggest, furthermore, that the space of the house is never unambiguously private or public. Boundaries between these domains cannot be meaningfully drawn because they constantly shift in accordance with the categories of actors who inhabit space. The moral codes governing behaviour and the practical activities of men and women produce continuities and discontinuities in the ordering of space both inside and outside the house

Epistemology · Private space · Sociology · Gender Studies · Hispanic-African Historical Relations · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender · North African History and Literature