Defining Space

Description

"Defining Text's Lived Space"

This paper is concerned with the space of text, or, at least, with the question of what might be meant by the phrase ‘the space of text.’ Drawing on the work of Henri Lefebvre, and especially The Production of Space (1974), where Lefebvre criticises traditional philosophical concepts of space which tend to view space in either purely physical or mental terms, it will be argued that Lefebvre’s hostility towards a perceived textualisation of space and what he calls ‘a cult, in short, of words’ (131) which has played a large part in the abstraction of space, actually serves to highlight the way in which text’s spatiality has been conceived of in limiting ways. It will be suggested that though Lefebvre is quick to relate textual space to the representation of space, aligned with what he terms mental space, it is possible to see the space of text being employed in different ways within society, including as a representational space, allied to what Lefebvre would term lived spaces.

Relating Lefebvre’s work to Joseph Frank’s essay "Spatial Form in Modern Literature" (1945) (and wondering why this is not simply "The Space of Modern Literature"), this paper will suggest that it is through an analysis of the forms of repetition and rhythm, key to the production of space, that a fuller understanding of the space of text is arrived at. Moreover, this is an understanding not only of the composition of the space of text, its form and substance, but also of the ways in which it is perceived and experienced. Arguing that textual space is, indeed, not simply viewed, but experienced, lived, this paper looks again to Lefebvre to discover the role and place of textual space in the social realm.

Period	2007
Event type	Conference
Location	Dublin, IrelandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International