ABSTRACT
In the very act of constructing domestic space, what is “natural” is eschewed
in favor of the culturally scripted. Within the encapsulated space of the
domestic interior,1 fictions of the self and society become transformed into
material and spatial fabrications, made legible through an architectural frame-
work. The material culture of the domestic interior provides evidence of
how its occupants wish to be recognized. Tightly scripted narratives of self and
family are rehearsed ad nauseum until they are naturalized, aided and abetted
by artifacts and decor that codify and embellish not only the domestic setting,
but also more significantly, the stories being told.2 If domesticity is as much a
performance as it is a practice, who are the witnesses to domesticity’s
dramaturgy?
