INVISIBLE CITIES AND WRITING MODERNITY:
TOWARDS A NEW GEOGRAPHY OF IDENTITY.
TOWARDS A NEW GEOGRAPHY OF IDENTITY.
Many theoretical approaches to study the city are possible, for instance geographical, historical, sociological, anthropological, ethnological, semiological, architectural or literary ones. In the present project, we intend to use some of these approaches to discuss notions of visibility and invisibility of a city. Thereby, the notion of invisibility will be at the centre of our epistemological investigation. Our aim is to address this notion along interdisciplinary lines: how do the visible and the invisible function in the collective unconscious as well as in memory, cultural representations and the city itself?
A prominent aspect to be discussed in this context is the construction of modern identity in relation to the (in)visible city. How does the subject construct itself in relation to space, both visible and invisible? Who inhabits what, or is inhabited by, and what kind of space is at stake? What are the writing strategies of modernity which enable the subject to inhabit the urban space? How can writing make the invisible visible, whatever the nature of the medium is (textual, pictural, architectural, numerical etc.?) Can we, in this context, talk about a new geography of identity? And if so, how can we characterise it?
The « invisible » dimension of the city
We attempt to approach the notion of invisibility along different lines, for example through the study of mirage-cities, urban non-places and utopias, cities which may be hypertextual, virtual, occult, mystical as well as eschatological, hidden, underground, in ruins, etc. The idea is to bring to dig up a structure which is not visible at first sight, but which seems to be all that is left once the city is stripped off its urban, concrete dimension. We will delve into the nature of this structure and study questions such as: does it belong to myth per se, to a supernatural reality, common representation, phantasmagoria, to the imaginary realm, to a historicizing and political projection? All these aspects shall be used to reconsider the very notion of the city (city, urban space, suburbia, etc.).
A prominent aspect to be discussed in this context is the construction of modern identity in relation to the (in)visible city. How does the subject construct itself in relation to space, both visible and invisible? Who inhabits what, or is inhabited by, and what kind of space is at stake? What are the writing strategies of modernity which enable the subject to inhabit the urban space? How can writing make the invisible visible, whatever the nature of the medium is (textual, pictural, architectural, numerical etc.?) Can we, in this context, talk about a new geography of identity? And if so, how can we characterise it?
The « invisible » dimension of the city
We attempt to approach the notion of invisibility along different lines, for example through the study of mirage-cities, urban non-places and utopias, cities which may be hypertextual, virtual, occult, mystical as well as eschatological, hidden, underground, in ruins, etc. The idea is to bring to dig up a structure which is not visible at first sight, but which seems to be all that is left once the city is stripped off its urban, concrete dimension. We will delve into the nature of this structure and study questions such as: does it belong to myth per se, to a supernatural reality, common representation, phantasmagoria, to the imaginary realm, to a historicizing and political projection? All these aspects shall be used to reconsider the very notion of the city (city, urban space, suburbia, etc.).
Writing the city / writing modernity
The project aims at studying various modes of writing the city (literary, symbolic, sociological, ethnological, historical, architectural ones
) from the early 19th century up to our present times, in relation to the concept of visibility - real and/or imaginary -, which can fade out in various degrees, and in some cases even make the city invisible.
