Résumés
Abstract
This paper demonstrates the processes of spatial production achieved through the setup of a home shrine by newly arrived Hindu immigrant women inside American houses, particularly the kitchens. By focusing on the home shrine, the paper uses a gendered lens through which to understand vernacular architecture, since women often garner greater control over domestic objects and interiors than they do over construction of buildings. I propose that production of sacred space, achieved through domestic objects like home shrines, is a fluid process. Its location in the house can be more easily changed from one place to another. Compared to the permanent construction of buildings, this compliancy of form may appear less concrete for providing objective architectural analysis. However, I suggest that it is the opposite. The flexibility involved in women’s production process makes room for greater spatial negotiation and demonstrates the diversity of ways concrete domestic architecture is maneuvered to satisfy women’s religious needs over time. Further, the paper demonstrates the wide array of complex decisions that women have to make regarding body movements in the house and worship practices, achieved through material intervention, that speak of domestic architecture in less static and more dynamic ways. By tracing women’s experiences with domestic architecture as new arrivals in the country, and later, as permanent residents, the paper foregrounds women’s strong architectural contributions through the use of domestic objects that enable a gendered and consequently a more inclusive approach to the study of architectural space.
Résumé
Cet article montre par quels processus de production spatiale passent les femmes immigrées hindoues récemment arrivées dans les maisons américaines lorsqu’elles y installent un autel de dévotion, en particulier dans les cuisines. En se concentrant sur l’autel domestique, cet article cherche à comprendre l’architecture vernaculaire sous l’angle du genre, puisque les femmes acquièrent souvent davantage de contrôle sur les objets et les intérieurs domestiques que sur la construction des bâtiments elle-même. J’émets l’hypothèse que la production d’un espace sacré par le biais d’objets domestiques, tels que les autels de dévotion privés, est un processus fluide. L’autel peut facilement changer de place dans la maison et passer d’un endroit à l’autre. Comparativement à la permanence des bâtiments, sa forme modulable peut sembler moins concrètement propice à une analyse architecturale objective, mais cependant je suggère le contraire. La flexibilité inhérente aux processus de production des femmes laisse de la place à une plus ample négociation spatiale et montre la diversité des façons par lesquelles l’architecture domestiques « en dur » est contournée pour satisfaire les besoins religieux des femmes au fil du temps. Plus encore, cet article montre le large et complexe éventail des décisions que les femmes doivent prendre en ce qui concerne les mouvements corporels dans la maison et les pratiques de dévotion, qu’elles réalisent au moyen d’interventions matérielles où l’architecture domestique se fait moins statique et plus dynamique. En décrivant la confrontation de ces femmes à l’architecture domestique au moment où elles viennent d’arriver dans le pays puis, plus tard, en tant que résidentes permanentes, cet article met au premier plan les fortes contributions des femmes à l’architecture au moyen d’objets domestiques qui permettent une approche genrée, et par conséquent moins inclusive, de l’étude de l’espace architectural
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