Real cities : modernity, space, and the phantasmagorias of city life

Title
  1. Real cities : modernity, space, and the phantasmagorias of city life / Steve Pile.
Published by
  1. London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif. : SAGE, 2005.
Author
  1. Pile, Steve, 1961-

Items in the library and off-site

Filter by

Displaying 1 item

StatusFormatAccessCall numberItem location
StatusFormatTextAccessUse in libraryCall numberBF353.5.C53 P55 2005Item locationOff-site

Details

Description
  1. xi, 216 pages : illustrations, map; 25 cm
Summary
  1. "What is real about city life? Real Cities shows why it is necessary to take seriously the more imaginary, fantastic and emotional aspects of city life. Drawing inspiration from the work of Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud and Georg Simmel, Pile explores the dream-like and ghost-like experiences of the city. Such experiences are, he argues, best described as phantasmagorias. The phantasmagorias of city life, though commonplace, are far from self-evident and little understood. This book is a path-breaking exploration of urban phantasmagorias, grounded empirically in a series of unusual and exciting case studies. In this study, four substantial phantasmagorias are identified: dreams, magic, vampires and ghosts. The investigation of each phantasmagoria is developed using a wide variety of clear examples. Thus, voodoo in New York and New Orleans shows how ideas about magic are forged within cities. Meanwhile vampires reveal how specific fears about sex and death are expressed within, and circulate between, cities such as London and Singapore. Taken together, such examples build a unique picture of the diverse roles of the imaginary, fantastic and the emotional in modern city life. What is "real" about the city has radical consequences for how we think about improving city life, for all too often these are over-looked in utopian schemes for the city. Real Cities forcefully argues that an appreciation of urban phantasmagorias must be central to what is considered real about city life." http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0657/2004099523-d.html.
Subject
  1. City and town life > Psychological aspects
  2. Psychoanalysis and human geography
  3. Personal space
  4. Personal Space
  5. Stadtleben
  6. Psychologie
  7. Stadt
  8. Kultur
  9. Privatsphäre
  10. Steden
  11. Bewustzijn
  12. Verbeelding
  13. Stadtleben > Psychologie
  14. Cities and towns > Psychological aspects
  15. Architettura > aspetti psicologici
  16. Stadt : Kultur
Contents
  1. Introduction -- The Dreaming City -- The Magic City -- The Vampiric City -- The Ghostly City -- Conclusion.
Owning institution
  1. Princeton University Library
Bibliography (note)
  1. Includes bibliographical references (p. [197]-210) and index.