The London School of Economics and Political Science The Reel City: London, symbolic power and cinema Rahoul Masrani A thesis submitted to the Department of Media and Communications of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, January 2016 DECLARATION .................................................................................................................... 4 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 9 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 An IntErdisciplinary Enquiry into thE Global City ................................................ 13 1.3 Symbolic PowEr ................................................................................................................ 16 1.3.1 Symbolic power and the media ........................................................................................... 18 1.4 CinEma and thE City ........................................................................................................ 22 1.5 London in Cinema ........................................................................................................ 28 1.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 2: THE GLOBAL CITY ................................................................................. 34 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 34 2.2 ThE Global City: Institutional ApproachEs .............................................................. 37 2.2.1 City branding: Normativity ................................................................................................... 43 2.3 ProblEmatising thE NormativE Approach to thE Global City ............................. 47 2.3.1 The postcolonial city ................................................................................................................ 48 2.3.2 Agency ............................................................................................................................................ 52 2.4 ThE Global City and thE MEdia: ThE CinEmatic City .............................................. 54 2.4.1 CinEmatic rEprEsEntations of thE global city ...................................................... 57 2.4.2 The global city as a cinematic reiteration ....................................................................... 60 2.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 3: LONDON GLOBAL CITY ........................................................................ 66 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 66 3.2 London: The History oF a Global City ................................................................................... 69 3.3 Multicultural London: A Critique of thE NEoliberal Approach to Cultural DivErsity ..................................................................................................................................... 75 3.4 Urban Contrasts: Class and thE City SpacE .............................................................. 85 3.4.1 TransForming the built environment ............................................................................... 87 3.5 London on ScrEEn: Symbolic PowEr and thE CinEmatic City ............................. 93 3.5.1 Glamour ......................................................................................................................................... 96 3.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 99 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................... 101 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 101 4.2 MEthod: Sociological-ThEmatic Analysis ............................................................... 104 4.2.1 Textual analysis: Semiotics ................................................................................................ 109 4.2.2 Text analysis: Discourse, ideology and intertextuality .......................................... 111 4.3 Sampling ........................................................................................................................... 114 4.3.1 Films: Chapters 5 and 6 ....................................................................................................... 114 4.3.2 Contextual material: Chapter 7 ........................................................................................ 116 4.4 Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 118 4.4.1 Chapter 5: Glamorous London ......................................................................................... 119 4.4.2 Chapter 6: Multi-Cultural London ................................................................................... 121 4.4.3 Chapter 7 ................................................................................................................................... 124 4.5 REflExivity and thE Risks of TExtual Analysis ...................................................... 125 4.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 127 CHAPTER 5: GLAMOROUS LONDON ....................................................................... 129 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 129 5.2 Ideal UsErs ........................................................................................................................ 132 5.2.1 Class, consumption and the city ...................................................................................... 132 2 5.2.2 The global middle class: Rich, young and white ....................................................... 141 5.3 Capitalism and Consumption: Iconic London ....................................................... 151 5.3.1 Glamour zonEs ..................................................................................................................... 151 5.3.2 Iconic spaces and monuments ......................................................................................... 156 5.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 159 CHAPTER 6: MULTI-CULTURAL LONDON ............................................................. 163 6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 163 6.1.1 Multi-cultural versus multicultural ................................................................................ 164 6.2 Symbolic PowEr and Immigration: NEw and EstablishEd Migrant CommunitiEs .......................................................................................................................... 166 6.2.1 New migrant communities ................................................................................................. 166 6.2.2 Established migrant communities .................................................................................. 171 6.3 Social Class and Consumption ................................................................................... 179 6.4 Trains, PlanEs and AutomobilEs ............................................................................... 185 6.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 192 CHAPTER 7: LONDON AND CINEMA: A DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIP ............... 195 7.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 195 7.2 Tourism: Studios, AgEnciEs and MoviE Maps ....................................................... 197 7.3 Brand London: A CinEmatic PerspectivE ............................................................... 201 7.3.1 Beyond the silver screen: Synergies .............................................................................. 204 7.3.2 Advertising ................................................................................................................................ 207 7.4 SEtting a PrEcEdent ....................................................................................................... 212 7.4.1 The ‘real’ city ............................................................................................................................ 216 7.5 Discussion: What about LondonErs? ....................................................................... 225 7.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................