REVIEW: François Rüegg, La maison paysanne: histoire d’un mythe
Throughout six chapters, the book approaches the construction of the “peasant house” notion since the 18th century until present-day. By means of an ethno-historical vision, the book reveals the extent to which the “peasant house” as an emblem of national culture is an intellectual or ideological contemporary construction. Through the representations and imaginary inspired by the rural house, the author thoroughly configures the history of ideas linked to diverse conceptions of living or of the habitat. The anthropology of heritage, of globalization, or rural anthropology could richly benefit from the typologies, cross-disciplinary references or visual material offered by this book.
Keywords: house, imaginary, rurality, environment, symbolism.
Brumann, Christoph. “Outside the Glass Case: The Social Life of Urban Heritage in Kyoto”, American Ethnologist, Vol.36, No.2 (2009): 276–299.
Mihăilescu, Vintilă. “Something Nice. Pride Houses, Post-peasant Society and the Quest for Authenticity.” Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology 11, no. 2 (2014): 83–107.
Rüegg, François. La maison paysanne : histoire d’un mythe. Paris: Infolio, 2011.
