Ecstatic things

Abstract

This article addresses the orchestration of domestic lighting as an object of anthropological study. It takes Bedouin domestic architecture in southern Jordan as a starting point in an analysis of how light is used as means of safeguarding spaces as part of hospitality practices central to Bedouin culture. By arguing that things are “ecstatic” in the sense that they transcend their own tangibility, the article shows how objects, such as tinted windows, impose themselves on other objects to shape the particular visual presence of the world that informants opt for. Such a presence of the world is analyzed through the notion of “atmosphere” as a contemporaneity of subjective emotions, cultural ideals, and material phenomena. Thus, while boundaries between interior and exterior may be upheld by tangible material strategies, such as walls, these boundaries may also simultaneously be permeated by the ecstasy of material things, which aim to safeguard other aspects of life through less tangible strategies.

Keywords:

• light
• atmosphere
• ecstasy
• Islam
• Jordan
• Bedouin

Acknowledgments

This paper has been in progress since it was first presented in 2008 in Oxford at the conference Ambiance and Material Culture, and the Landscapes of Illuminations session in Las Vegas, 2009, as well as being part of my PhD thesis, 2009. Various people have helped in shaping the argument in all the different versions, most notably Andreas Bandak, Victor Buchli, Lars Højer, Inge Daniels, and Tim Flohr Sørensen. As editors of this special issue, Kristin Veel and Henriette Steiner are also thanked for their critical comments, and the very helpful comments from two anonymous reviewers.

Notes

1. I have conducted fieldwork in the villages in the Petra region since 1999, with more than a year of doctoral fieldwork in 2006–2007 in Beidha, living with a family, and subsequent post-doctoral fieldwork in 2011.

2. It should be noted that many houses have not been restructured, since the families living there were either only renting them or did not have enough money to rebuild them.

3. The terms “atmosphere” and “ambience” are often used interchangeably in English, as a bestowing of some kind of “soul” upon a space (Böhme 1995: 22; compare, for instance, the translation of French “ambiance” in Baudrillard 1968 [42–88] with the English “atmosphere” in Baudrillard 1996 [30–62]).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mikkel Bille

Mikkel Bille is an associate professor at the Department of People and Technology, Roskilde University, and prior to this assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen. He obtained a PhD in Social Anthropology from University College London on Bedouin material culture and heritage. His current work is on the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs in a comparative study between Jordan and Denmark. He has co-edited three books, Elements of Architecture (2016, Routledge), Politics of Worship in Contemporary Middle East (2013, Brill), and An Anthropology of Absence (2010, Springer), and co-authored Materialitet (2012, Forlaget Samfundslitteratur), along with several articles in international journals.

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