Friday, February 27, 2009

Poetics of Space Chapter 5 "Shells"


Shells:
 "Snails build a little house which they carry about with them,"so" they are always at home in whatever country they travel." (pg 121) This quote helps describe the thoughts of Bachelard in dealing with natural dwellings, shelters and the charm that they take on as individual units. The mystery of these homes is in their creation not the actual form of the structure.
 Bachelard speaks of J.B Robinets opinion that states that the creation of life is the creation of form, life brings about living form. He also believes that much like fossils, shells become the natural endeavor to create human form. The shell is a important representation of the human body which in turn protects the soul. Without a creature the shell is empty and void of life, the same goes for human life, when the soul leaves the body it becomes an empty vessel. 
"I have simply wanted to show that whenever life seeks to shelter, protect, cover or hide itself, the imagination sympathizes with the being that inhabits the protected space." (pg 132) To conclude Bachelard speaks of the fact that a shell has a direct correlation between the user and the actual space in which they dwell. Every detail of a shell is related to its overall design and this follows suite with human characteristics and the spaces that they inhabit. 

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