HOUSE AS A "BOOK" READ BY BODY. CULTURAL CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SPACE IN PIERRE BOURDIEU’S THEORY

Abstract

Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice tries to bridge the opposition societyindividual starting with the premise that when explaining social processes one must take into consideration both objective social structures, and personal experiences and individual choice of attitudes. Bourdieu sees an individual as a subject of social and cultural processes, and not as a mere "transmitter" of cultural norms and social rules forced upon the individual by the environment. By emphasizing the role of social actors in the socially constructed world, this author’s studies represent an ambitious theoretical endeavour to explain both the continuity and change of social and cultural forms. This paper points out to basic theoretical and epistemological premises of theory of practice, and it critically examines its complex ideas on culture. Within Bourdieu’s theoretical explanation, culture is comprehended as a process in which individuals learn implicit cultural rules through experiences in everyday life. Hence, culture is acquired individually, through practice and interaction with people and things from primary surroundings. Within this interpretative frame, material culture is understood as one of important elements of transmission of "generative schemes", i.e. cultural principles and rules which determine thinking, perception and actions of an individual. Special attention in this paper is therefore given to Bourdieu’s interpretation of Kabyle house which had an immense theoretical significance in the area of research of house(s) and material culture in general. By critically analyzing this author’s conclusions, the aim of the paper is to affirm new approaches in research of cultural conceptualization of space and house as a spatial, social and cultural category in Serbian science.