House and home: Reconsidering the anatomy of houses in Western societies

The article develops a critical and transversal reading of the special issue. Each contribution inspired the author to seek for a mirror image or an analogy in Western societies and test the mentioned Carsten and Hugh-Jones observation of the seemingly self-evident relation between house and the self. Rosalie Stolz’ contribution on the changing communities of sounds in northern Laos changed the author’s perspective on the background of the popularity of camping in the West. Jonathan Alderman’s contribution on the bloody libation rituals performed in the patio of rural houses in Andean Bolivia made her realize that there is a heightened sensitivity in the West towards blood, and more in particular visible blood spatters, be it animal or human blood. From this consideration, the article presents some reflections on the relation between house and blood. The cultural dead-lock between home-ownership and manhood in southern Tunisia, as described by Pontiggia, points to a general relation between the material home and the male self.