Atlantic parlour culture : loci of power

Abstract

Parlour Culture is considered for its long duration and social impact on both sides of the Atlantic, but my research focus culminates with the expression of that culture in Queens County, Nova Scotia from the late 18th century to the mid-20th century. Interdisciplinary research of vernacular parlour culture has uncovered evidence for a sharing of social power through reciprocity and inclusivity during the American parlour of New England, the Liverpool Township and the settlements of White Point and Hunts Point, Queens County. To identify the essence of parlour culture in each of these areas, research traces the intangible life behaviours as related to the tangible ones of place (locus). Through its dominant goal of promoting relationships between the home and the community, parlour culture becomes the instrument for the realization of self-identity. Thus, the essence of parlour culture is that of a spatial artifact directed toward the construction of sustainable community life. An original study of two South Shore communities reveals an elegant social model based on a parlour culture that was transferred from New England. Moreover, vibrant traces of this culture are still found there to the present day.