Etude anthropologique de l’espace domestique à Guangzhou

Abstract

The household reveals the change in everyday life of the chinese people. Before 1990, the Chinese all haved lived for a certain time far away from their work. Today, all Chinese want to be the proper owner of their apartment. This great change is definitely the result of the national housing reform realized in the 1990's. Once becoming the owner, the Chinese focus on the decoration and reorganization of the rooms in their homes. Their main concern is to exploit maximum their limited space, and to achieve the best harmony with the environment. In the mean time, the development of the service industry not only have helped them to enjoy a better life but also have liberated them from the attachment of the family and the friendship. But the Chinese still live in the shadow of their old traditions. As the vector of the social norms, the furniture and light in the living room and the living room its self become the "window" and represent the "face" of the family. On the other hand, the bathroom, which is restrictly an intimate room for the French, is both "public" and "intimate" for the Chinese. The couple never allow themselves to leave their personnel items in it, neither do they accept to have two separate bathrooms. The level of the intimacy of the rooms reflects that Chinese, who live constantly between the tradition and modernity, respect always their old traditions.