Recent work in the interdisciplinary field of suburban studies has focussed on the growing hetero... more Recent work in the interdisciplinary field of suburban studies has focussed on the growing heterogeneity of suburbia as a complex and dynamic terrain, resulting in new creative responses to this phenomenon from a wide range of disciplines. However, the representation of suburbia in fiction and film still tends to be dominated by a two-dimensional notion based on either utopian aspiration or dystopian alarm. In light of this, Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopia invites us to go beyond binaries, as it provides alternative representation to allow for contestation and discussion of ideas. My aim in this paper is to explore the possibilities of suburbia as a hybrid construction of intermingled social, cultural and artistic processes in Jeffrey Eugenides's debut novel The Virgin Suicides (1993). While framed as a captivating meditation on suburban angst and nostalgia in the 1970s, Eugenides's text casts a critical glance back to some central conflicts that still persist in modern suburban America, which concern mainly suburban sprawl and its ecological, social and cultural impact. In an era of rapid urbanization and globalization, it seems worth reflecting on our most recent treatment and representation of space.
Recent work in the interdisciplinary field of suburban studies has focussed on the growing hetero... more Recent work in the interdisciplinary field of suburban studies has focussed on the growing heterogeneity of suburbia as a complex and dynamic terrain, resulting in new creative responses to this phenomenon from a wide range of disciplines. However, the representation of suburbia in fiction and film still tends to be dominated by a two-dimensional notion based on either utopian aspiration or dystopian alarm. In light of this, Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopia invites us to go beyond binaries, as it provides alternative representation to allow for contestation and discussion of ideas. My aim in this paper is to explore the possibilities of suburbia as a hybrid construction of intermingled social, cultural and artistic processes in Jeffrey Eugenides's debut novel The Virgin Suicides (1993). While framed as a captivating meditation on suburban angst and nostalgia in the 1970s, Eugenides's text casts a critical glance back to some central conflicts that still persist in modern suburban America, which concern mainly suburban sprawl and its ecological, social and cultural impact. In an era of rapid urbanization and globalization, it seems worth reflecting on our most recent treatment and representation of space.
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