University of Toronto Press The Domestic Space Reader

Turn on your TV, visit your local bookstore's magazine section, or flip to the 'Homes' section of your weekend newspaper, and it becomes clear: domestic spaces play an immense role in our cultural consciousness. The Domestic Space Reader addresses our collective fascination with houses and homes by providing the first comprehensive survey of the concept across time, cultures, and disciplines.This pioneering anthology, which is ideal for students and general readers, features writing by key scholars, thinkers, and writers including Gaston Bachelard, Mary Douglas, Le Corbusier, Homi Bhabha, Henri Lefebvre, Mrs. Beeton, Ma Thanegi, Diana Fuss, Beatriz Colomina, and Edith Wharton. Among the many engaging topics explored are: the impact of domestic technologies on family life; the relationship between religion and the home; nomadic peoples and housing; domestic spaces in art and literature, and the history of the bedroom, the kitchen, and the bathroom. The Domestic Space Reader demonstrates how discussions of domestic spaces can help us better understand our inner lives and challenge our perceptions of life in particular times and places. Review 'This anthology would be notably useful for literature students developing an interdisciplinary understanding of domestic space and for those in other disciplines considering architecture's influence on individual and cultural imaginations.' - Dale Tracy - Canadian Literature #221: Summer 2014 About the Author Chiara Briganti is the academic director for British Programmes of the College of Global Studies at Arcadia University and a visiting research fellow at King's College London. Kathy Mezei is a professor emeritus in the Department of Humanities at Simon Fraser University.