Introduction

Dwelling is both an action and a location; it combines the spatial idea of habitation (dwelling in) with the temporal idea of lingering (dwelling on). This introduction opens with a consideration of terms that define it by contradistinction—space, place, territory, hospitality—and goes on to borrow terms from such theorists as Heidegger, Derrida, Sennett and Ingold. Throughout the search for definitions, we are aware of the complications of translation from these sources, the relations of dwelling to building, politics and memory, and of the dweller to other, non-human creatures, whether living or inanimate. Dwelling is often far from comfortable; it is haunted by movement, which may pull it out of shape and challenge its assumptions. The latter part of the introduction summarises the essays of this multidisciplinary collection, which are specific, often personal. They create a map of instances, questions and narratives. From the diverse byways of ‘dwelling’ emerges the theoretical richness of the term.