Complex Urban Identities: an Investigation Into the Everyday Lived Realities of Cities As Reflected in Selected Postmodern Texts
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Complex Urban Identities: An Investigation into the Everyday Lived Realities of Cities as Reflected in Selected Postmodern Texts Adalet Snyman 13549227 Dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the Stellenbosch University Dr Ralph Goodman March 2010 DECLARATION By submitting this dissertation, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the owner of the copyright thereof (unless to the extent explicitly otherwise stated) and that I have not previously in its entirety on in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. Signature:_______________________ Date:___________________________ Copyright © 2009 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved 2 Abstract The concept of the city has evolved over time with generations of city dwellers. The rapid advance of technology has promoted globalisation, which has brought about increased familiarity with diverse cultures, but has also exposed issues of marginalisation among communities in cities. In order to approach a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the “open” postmodern view of the city it is essential to consider the relevant literature that grapples with issues of human identity and appropriation in the city. This dissertation examines narrative perspectives in the literary works of four postmodern writers: Jonathan Safran Foer, Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, and Lauren Beukes. References to underlying philosophical viewpoints, various perceptions, both “real” and fictional, were incorporated in the discussion. Close attention is paid to the correlation between the novel and the city, and to what extent the city itself can be viewed as a narrative – since, within a postmodern approach, fictional narratives may form discourses that represent, and in a fashion constitute, the city, while subjects at the same time form themselves in terms of their environment. Fiction becomes an invaluable tool for exploring the cityscape and commenting on contemporary issues. In conclusion, the urbanised human subject may be said to play a vital role in establishing the concept of the city, both in “real” culture and in fictional narrative. The representation of the contemporary South African urban milieu in the discussed literature serves to confirm the relevance of local as well as global influences. To justify multiple perspectives on the city consequently means to grant each individual viewpoint validity. 3 Opsomming Die konsep van die stad het deur die jare ontwikkel saam met geslagte van stads- bewoners. Die vinnige vooruitgang van tegnologie het globalisasie bevorder, wat op sy beurt weer bewustheid van diverse kulture bevorder het, maar ook kwessies blootgelê het rondom marginalisasie in stadsgemeenskappe. Ten einde ‘n meer omvattende begrip van die kompleksiteit van die “oop” postmoderne perspektief op die stad daar te stel, is dit belangrik om te kyk na die relevante literatuur wat bemoeienis maak met kwessies van menslike identiteit en eienaarskap in die stad. Hierdie dissertasie het gekyk na vertellerperspektiewe in die literêre werke van vier postmoderne skrywers: Jonathan Safran Foer, Neil Gaiman, China Miéville, en Lauren Beukes. Met verwysing na onderliggende filosofiese gesigspunte is verskeie persepsies, gegrond op die werklikheid sowel as fiktief, in die bespreking ingesluit. Daar is aandag gegee aan die verband tussen die roman en die stad, en in watter mate die stad self as ‘n teks beskou kan word, aangesien die teks volgens ‘n postmoderne aanslag die stad kan “representeer” en “laat ontstaan”, terwyl menslike subjekte hulself terselfdertyd vorm in terme van hul omgewing. Fiksie word dus ‘n waardevolle werktuig vir waarneming van en kommentaar lewer op komtemporêre sake. Ten slotte kan gesê word dat die verstedelikte menslike subjek ‘n belangrike rol speel in die bevestiging van die stad as konsep, beide in reële kultuur en in fiktiewe vertelling. Die verteenwoordiging van die kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaanse stedelike milieu in die bespreekte tekste bevestig die relevansie van lokale sowel as internasionale invloede. Om veelvuldige perspektiewe op die stad gelyk te beregtig beteken gevolglik dat elke individuele gesigspunt geldig is. 4 Contents Page Introduction 6 Chapter 1 – The Concept of the City 8 Chapter 2 – The City: in Narrative, and as Narrative 13 Chapter 3 – The City, “Real” and Imaginary: New York 31 Chapter 4 – The City, “Real” and Imaginary: London 44 Chapter 5 – The Imaginary City and the Search for Identity: New Crobuzon in Perdido Street Station 67 Chapter 6 – Future Cities: “Real” versus Virtual – the Dynamics of Identity, Community and Space as observed in Moxyland 93 Conclusion 124 Works Cited 128 5 Introduction This dissertation seeks to gain a more comprehensive understanding of contemporary cities and urban communities through an investigation of a selection of popular culture texts, which include the following genres: postmodern writing, speculative fiction and science fiction. The specific focus will be on the intersection between realism and fictionality within the city. Some of the theoretical paradigms that prove useful for my study are: post-structuralism, postmodernism, utopian studies, urban studies, cultural studies, political science, architectural design, and urban planning. In the context of this dissertation post-structuralism refers to the theoretical approach which views the text as an independent entity, leading to multiple interpretations, the text being fashioned by the reader as well as the author. Both scientific discovery and postmodernity have pronounced the loci of time and space to be no longer unconditionally fixed, and these changed perspectives have led to a reassessment of the structural foundations of the universe and a decentralised approach to structure. Postmodernism blurs and fragments recognised ideas in an ironic reflexive way in order to challenge the established status quo. In conjunction with this, utopian studies – and more specifically the concepts of dystopia or heterotopia (a decidedly postmodern notion of space “outside” or on the fringes) – afford a different perspective on the norm. Chapter 1 examines the concept of the city and looks at some of the problems that face contemporary cities. Chapter 2 examines the correlation between the novel and the city, and considers to what extent the city itself can be viewed as a narrative – since, within a postmodern approach, fictional narratives may form discourses that represent, and in a fashion constitute, the city. For this purpose, various street culture phenomena are discussed. Subsequent chapters investigate this use of the fictional narrative by consistently considering a given novel in conjunction with a specific city (and type of city). Chapter 3 discusses how fiction becomes an invaluable tool for exploring the cityscape and commenting on contemporary issues. An extract from the novel 6 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is discussed in parallel with an examination of some features of New York City. Chapter 4 – on Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman – comments on and illustrates the significance of interaction between a realistic and a fantastical/imaginary London. The focus of this chapter is on how the city is interpreted and experienced from various angles, i.e. from the view of the possessor as well as the dispossessed. Chapter 5 explores the importance of narratives that feature fictional cities, also focussing on the interplay between realism and fictionality, with specific reference to Perdido Street Station by China Miéville. The main focus of this chapter falls on hybridity, communities within cities, and the way subjects form themselves in terms of their environment. Chapter 6 considers the concept of virtual cities, based on a discussion of Moxyland by Lauren Beukes, and also addresses the social issues, both contemporary and future, in Cape Town and South Africa. 7 Chapter 1: The Concept of the City Cities are created, inhabited and adapted by humans whose culture becomes urbanised, leading to a reciprocal relationship and mutual impact – and attracting an increasingly larger portion of the population. Delhi is the “site of eight former cities”, while the cities of Sumeria made the southern part of Mesopotamia 80 per cent urban about four thousand years ago (Seabrook, Jeremy 9). So while society seems to become increasingly more urbanised, as can be (and later will be) illustrated, city life has been an integral part of humanity almost as far back as recorded human history begins. In the last 60 years the percentage of city inhabitants has at least doubled, indicating the unstable nature of population demographics and a prolific increase in urbanisation. Simon Bekker’s 2007 publication, Reflections on Identity in Four African Cities, points out that, for the first time in history, the majority of the world’s population now resides in cities (3), while in 1950 it was just 18 per cent of the population of developing countries (Seabrook 7). The prediction is that in the next 40 years 93 per cent of urban growth will happen in developing countries (United Nations qtd. in Pieterse, Edgar 16-18). In some areas, such as sub-Saharan Africa, “urban growth will become virtually synonymous with slum formation”, since it has the “highest annual urban growth rate … and the highest slum growth rate” (Moreno and Warah qtd. in Pieterse 31-32). In other words, urban growth in the developing world – the predominant area of urban