Individual Presentation or Panel Title
Urban Wastelands, Literary Landscapes: How Fictional Cities Depict and Expose Urban Realities
Abstract
The effects of urbanization on human life are difficult to quantify. One need only glimpse a slum to know that there is something vastly wrong with the urban processes of today's world. However, establishing a narrative that links urbanization to the degradation of human life is less straightforward. This project proposes that the seeds of social theory are rooted in the pages of great literary works of the past. Rich with historical context, the portrayal of cities in world literature offer first-hand accounts and critiques of urban processes, unsullied by the neoliberal ideologies of modern culture. This project aims to create a chronological cartography of urbanization and its grave consequences on human life through the analysis of 19th and 20th century works of literature and their respective urban environments. Combining analysis of literary and economic theory and close readings of poetry and prose, this research is founded on the belief that literary works can and should be utilized as a lens through which to view the harrowing effects urbanization has on human life in urban spaces.
Location
Goodwin Private Dining Room
Start Date
20-4-2013 2:30 PM
End Date
20-4-2013 3:20 PM
Urban Wastelands, Literary Landscapes: How Fictional Cities Depict and Expose Urban Realities
Goodwin Private Dining Room
The effects of urbanization on human life are difficult to quantify. One need only glimpse a slum to know that there is something vastly wrong with the urban processes of today's world. However, establishing a narrative that links urbanization to the degradation of human life is less straightforward. This project proposes that the seeds of social theory are rooted in the pages of great literary works of the past. Rich with historical context, the portrayal of cities in world literature offer first-hand accounts and critiques of urban processes, unsullied by the neoliberal ideologies of modern culture. This project aims to create a chronological cartography of urbanization and its grave consequences on human life through the analysis of 19th and 20th century works of literature and their respective urban environments. Combining analysis of literary and economic theory and close readings of poetry and prose, this research is founded on the belief that literary works can and should be utilized as a lens through which to view the harrowing effects urbanization has on human life in urban spaces.