Who owns the city? China Miéville’s The City and the city as an urban Gothic dystopia

Matek, Ljubica 2020. Who owns the city? China Miéville’s The City and the city as an urban Gothic dystopia. Studies in Gothic Fiction 6 (2) , pp. 16-26. 10.18573/sgf.9

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Abstract

The paper considers China Miéville’s novel The City and The City from the point of view of geography of space suggesting that the capital is the dominating force that shapes urban reality. The novel builds on the traditional Victorian Gothic ideas of the city as a place of dual existence and exploits the topoi of the noir, but instead of focusing on the individual and the issues of psychological doubling and existential plights of a detective, it is more concerned with the modes of production and the way that capitalism continuously re-invents itself by its use of space without making itself known. The plot elements and aesthetics of film noir add to the mystery of murder, of the twin cities’ identity, and highlight the false consciousness of the masses which enables the ideology’s effectiveness.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0080 Criticism P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2156-2407
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 August 2020
Date of Acceptance:	13 April 2020
Last Modified:	04 May 2023 19:26
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/134183

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