Forbes Domus: Figurations

Please reference as: Whites Writing Whiteness (2014) ‘Forbes Domus: Figurations’ http://www.whiteswritingwhiteness.ed.ac.uk/forbes-domus-figurations/ and provide the paragraph number as appropriate when quoting.

1. The interrelationship of the Forbes, Purcocks and McCorkindales, plus the Forbes siblings remaining in Scotland, plus the many other white and black people associated with their varied and changing economic and other activities and exchanges, was extremely complex. Also, these interrelationships combined aspects of families, kinship, households, farms and land, work units, organisations with sometimes large groups of employees and/or client groups (like share-holders).

2. As a consequence, it is very difficult to find a suitable single term with which to categorise this, and equally difficult to know how to depict it. However, the term ‘domus’ in Latin and ‘ostal’ in local dialect was used by Emmanuel Leroy Ladurie (1980 [1978] Montaillou Harmondsworth: Penguin) to categorise the overlaying of family, household and land/economy in the 13th century Cathar village of Montaillou, and is the closest fit that has been found. More properly, these are figurations, in the terms discussed by Norbert Elias.

3. Attempting to describe these domus-like figurations in words has proved extremely laborious and lengthy, and started turning into a full descriptive history of all the composing elements. This was based on an initial sketching out in figural form of what these changing entities were composed by and how they changed over time. Rather than continue writing the interminably long essay, jpegs of these figural entities and their interrelationships can be accessed via the link below.

4. The Forbes have been taken as at the core of these interrelationships. The underpinning economic basis of the way of life and mode of production – land, labour, rents, minerals-extraction, share-income – stayed fairly constant, because the labour-power of black people continued as the prime ‘engine of labour’ rather than mechanisation or other new technologies. However, there were factors which propelled change: initially, a business failure leading to emigration; then marriage followed by a move from one place to another and from trading and droving to farming; then another move, to large-scale farming and land-holding in a different area; followed by an extended period away and life-stage changes; succeeded by war; then a death; followed by re-formation and re-division of property; followed by another death.

5. Yes, of course there is probably fancy software that would enable what the figures in the jpegs show and do it cleaner and nicer – but the satisfactions of paper and pencil are great and there isn’t much of a learning curve. This was an exercise in thinking, not a life’s work in learning yet another piece of software!

The figure overall is shown below. Its been to three continents and many countries with me, as I use it as a focus-point for thinking about these complexities. It’s much more  battered now that when these jpegs were taken but I still treasure it.

Phase 1:                                                   Phase 2:

  

Phase 3:                                                   Phase 4:

 

Phase 5:                                                 Phase 6:

Phase 7:                                                Phase 8:

Last updated: 27 April 2015


ESRC_50th-ANNIVERSARY-LOGO-RGB-blue-white-gold

Recent Posts