Domestic Territories and the Little Humans: Understanding the Animation of Domesticity

Abstract

Domesticity is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. In this piece, we approach it from the point of view of a general theory of territories. To do so, we attempt to tackle simultaneously the ecological and spiritual dimensions of home by attending the expressive dimension of domesticity. We emphasize that the expressiveness of home inherently includes the register of the familiar as well as that of the unfamiliar (Freud’s unheimlich). The constant negotiations between these two registers can be appreciated as carried out at the limits of control. To highlight this fact, we focus on the case of the “little humans,” miniature humanoid creatures well attested in traditional mythologies and folk tales across different civilizations. Drawing from anthropological and ethnographic literature, yet with a leading interest in social–spatial theorizing, we seek to untangle the relations between humans and the little humans—these “elusive others” living with us—in order to clarify the deep meanings ingrained in domestic territories.