Week 1 - Analysing Visual Communication

Looking around the everyday objects at your house. How do they explain and contribute to the concept of "home" and "family"?

First of all, the concept of " family" according to Goldberg et al. (2012, p. 2) is that it is a network of people who share an irreplaceable bond. They also state that even if one member family is missing, he or she cannot be replaced. While the concept of "home" can be considered as familiar to most people but it can be quite subjective (Clark, 1986). For instance, some people might have a bigger home than others or the context of home for certain cultures may be different (JanMohamed, 2011).

A typical family home?

With these concepts in mind, from what I can see in my own house, the strongest object that contributes to both of these concepts is the family portrait. My decision to use the family portrait is because of the observation I have done after visiting more than a dozen houses. The most common feature that can be seen were the family portraits. A family portrait exemplifies these concepts because they show the family as a whole, meaning that the family is complete and the members are present. Other than that, it shows the relationship between family members to people who are visiting the house. The usage of the family portrait also shows that the family are going to inhabit the house for a long period of time. Thus, strengthening the concept of "home". In conclusion, the hanging of the family portrait shows the relationships between all the members of a family and it also encourages the concept of "home" between family members.


References:

• Clark, C. E. J. (1986). Modernising the house and family. In The American Family Home, 1800 - 1960 (pp. 131 -135). USA: The University of North Carolina Press.
• Goldenberg, H., Goldenberg, I. & Goldenberg, S. M. (2012). Family systems: fundamental concepts. In L. Koehler (Ed.) Family Therapy: An Overview (pp. 2). USA: BrooksCole.
• JanMohamed, A. R. (2011). Worldliness-without-World, Homlessness-as-home: toward a definition of the specular border intellectual. Accessed on 20th August 2012 from  https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/orientalism-spring2011/files/JanMohamed0001.pdf