F0906 Representing Global Cities: Venice, London, Mumbai
The course looks at three widely different global cities, that nevertheless share rich cosmopolitan traditions. After considering recent theoretical definitions of the concept of ‘global city’, we will analyze comparatively the ways in which Venice, London, and Mumbai, with their respective urban, historical, social contexts, have been affected and transformed by globalizing processes, and the ways in which cultural texts (fictional and non-fictional narratives, the visual arts, film, poetry, and popular music) can help us to map, come to terms with, and make sense of urban contexts that are by definition complex, measureless, alienating.
Topics considered will include the city as a space of the imagination and representation; the respective multicultural politics and dynamics of migration; the interaction of the local and the global; vernacular cosmopolitanism; the politics of naming and linguistic landscapes; cultural misunderstandings and cross-cultural translations; the impact of tourism; sites of memory and the construction of identity; the gendered city; multicultural neighborhoods and ghettos;
myths and counter-myths of the cities; postmodern and postcolonial representations of Venice, London and Mumbai. Finally, we will ask ourselves whether and to what extent it is possible and helpful to compare the three cities at stakes.
The course will be mainly based on lectures and class discussion of the assigned material. It will also involve some fieldwork in the city of Venice, with trips to relevant locations such as ancient and contemporary ethnic neighborhoods (the Ghetto, Via Piave – Mestre) and interviews.
Topics considered will include the city as a space of the imagination and representation; the respective multicultural politics and dynamics of migration; the interaction of the local and the global; vernacular cosmopolitanism; the politics of naming and linguistic landscapes; cultural misunderstandings and cross-cultural translations; the impact of tourism; sites of memory and the construction of identity; the gendered city; multicultural neighborhoods and ghettos;
myths and counter-myths of the cities; postmodern and postcolonial representations of Venice, London and Mumbai. Finally, we will ask ourselves whether and to what extent it is possible and helpful to compare the three cities at stakes.
The course will be mainly based on lectures and class discussion of the assigned material. It will also involve some fieldwork in the city of Venice, with trips to relevant locations such as ancient and contemporary ethnic neighborhoods (the Ghetto, Via Piave – Mestre) and interviews.
Evaluation
Readings
Readings