Solid Houses and Distant Homes. The Morality of Domestic Space in Southeast Romania.
Solid Houses and Distant Homes. The Morality of Domestic Space in Southeast Romania.

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I will explore the intimate relationship between domestic space and morality in a village situated in southeast Romania. Following local responses to the main question – what is that makes a house a home? – I will explore the house as the foremost setting for deeper social relations, not only between its inhabitants and other, more distant relations, but also between these domestic groups and the village itself. I suggest this dual relationship articulates a certain morality that is socially imposed on the lived domestic space. I will then argue it is the practice and the diverse generational reproduction of this morality that provides both the ideal of home and the actual realisation of the household. Finally, using classical theories in material culture, I will trace the way households objectify various modern and often conflicting understandings of homes.

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