Henri Lefebvre and the Spanish Urban Experience
Reading from the Mobile City
By (author) Benjamin Fraser
Publication date:
11 August 2011Length of book:
243 pagesPublisher
Bucknell University PressISBN-13: 9781611483680
An important contribution to the still evolving field of 'urban cultural studies,' Henri Lefebvre and the Spanish Urban Experience is the first book to thoroughly apply the French urban philosopher's thoughts on cities to the culture and literature of Spain. Fraser shows how Lefebvre's complex view of the city as a mobile phenomenon is relevant to understanding a variety of Spanish cultural products—from urban plans and short writings on the urban experience during the nineteenth century by Mariano José de Larra, Ramón de Mesonero Ramanos, and Ildefons Cerdà to urban theories, cultural practices and literary fiction of the twentieth by Luis Martín-Santos, Juan José Millás, Juan Goytisolo, and Manuel Delgado Ruiz. He pushes on to interrogate even the appearance of Mediterranean space and Barcelona in recent video games.
Working through the direct and indirect resonance of the French philosopher's legacy in Spain, a comprehensive first chapter grounds the reader in the key concepts of Lefebvre's urban theory that are explored throughout the book—his critiques of static space, modern urban planning, knowledge, alienation in everyday life and his emphasis on a method that underscores the importance of movement and rhythm. Fraser compellingly shows how each of these aspects of Lefebvre's work relates to the others, just as he ties together canonical and non-traditional cultural products from Madrid and Barcelona.
Working through the direct and indirect resonance of the French philosopher's legacy in Spain, a comprehensive first chapter grounds the reader in the key concepts of Lefebvre's urban theory that are explored throughout the book—his critiques of static space, modern urban planning, knowledge, alienation in everyday life and his emphasis on a method that underscores the importance of movement and rhythm. Fraser compellingly shows how each of these aspects of Lefebvre's work relates to the others, just as he ties together canonical and non-traditional cultural products from Madrid and Barcelona.
A book whose clarity of exposition, theoretical savvy, and innovative interdisciplinary approach takes readers on an urban joy ride through a diverse landscape of Spanish literary and cultural products. Driven by the work of Henri Lefebvre, Benjamin Fraser expertly guides readers through theoretical and cultural conceptions of city spaces. Fraser critically transverses the urban experience in manners as evocative and thrilling in Mariano José de Larra's articles of the early 1800s as in video game images of the twenty-first century. This book, will no doubt, move any contemporary critic and reader.