3 - Feeling at Home: The Eloquence of Material Culture

Summary

IN ADDITION TO the emotional work within marriage and the socialization of the child, the deployment of things with their pragmatic and symbolic dimensions and their associated activities in the household became an important dimension of domesticity. My use of the term “things” is informed by “thing theory” that studies the human-object relations in literature, culture, and everyday life. Associated with the literary critic Bill Brown and his study of subject-object relations in American literature, it draws attention to the meaning that materiality can create. It helps us to understand the importance of how women managed the objects and procedures in the domestic environment that contribute to the feeling of home. Women as the designers of the modern household made decisions concerning a plethora of objects (porcelain, decorative items, artwork, flowers, food, linens, and furniture) and the varied cultural practices associated with them (setting an attractive table, creating a comfortable sitting room, and hosting appropriate meals). In this way, women created a dynamic form of cultural capital that expressed status and identity.

The interactions between subjects and objects, between the material environment and subjective experience, created the socially enriching culture of the home for the enjoyment of the members of the household, the larger family, and business associates. Culminating in a certain affective and physical ambience, domesticity not only encompassed social and emotional aspects, as we discussed in the last chapters, but also a cultural aspect. Beyond their functionality, the objects of material culture also offer narratives about their uses and users, and in the way people comprehend and describe themselves within the materiality of everyday life, as we will see.

In the construction of this cultural space, the growing world of goods and possessions constitutes the materiality of the domestic sphere. Objects alert us to the role that one's surroundings plays in the creation of atmospheres, resulting in the moods of its dwellers. Governed by taste, the interior of the home and its effects impact the self-representation, identity, and status of both women and men as they negotiate selfhood. To stage such a vision of home, women needed to inform themselves about the cultural practices and fashions of the day and negotiate their own style based on their taste and the suitability for their social standing in the community.