Representation

Thacker, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7962-8391, 2025. Representation. In: Evans, E, ed., Space and literary studies. Cambridge University Press, pp. 19-33. ISBN 9781009424264

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Abstract

This chapter begins with a re-reading of Henri Lefebvre’s theorisation of social space and representation in his influential volume, The Production of Space (1974). Since the appearance of its English translation in 1991, Lefebvre’s theories have proved to be foundational for much of the work on literature and space that has emerged over the previous few decades, particularly his distinction between representations of space and representational spaces. The chapter thus traces the impact of Lefebvre’s work upon various literary critics and cultural geographers, exploring the development of ideas of textual space, concepts of space and place, and the relation between material and metaphorical spaces. The chapter then moves to consider the concept of scale, an idea somewhat neglected by Lefebvre, but which has begun to gain traction with critics writing on, for example, world literature and modernism (such as Nirvana Tanoukhi, Susan Stanford Friedman, and the essays in the 2017 volume edited by Tavel Clarke and David Wittenberg). Thinking through the question of ‘what is the scale of the literary object’ (as posed by Rebecca Walkowitz) thus offers a new way to understand the complex relations between representation, literary texts, and diverse forms of social space (local, regional, national, transnational, global).

Item Type:	Chapter in book
Creators:	Thacker, A.
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Date:	June 2025
ISBN:	9781009424264
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1017/9781009424264.003 DOI 2452326 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jeremy Silvester
Date Added:	19 Sep 2025 08:20
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2025 08:20
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54365

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