Rethinking the genre: urban biographies as means of creating critical public spheres

• Autores: Jaroslav Ira
• Localización: Urban history, ISSN-e 1469-8706, Vol. 48, Num. 1, 2021, págs. 162-178
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In this article, I rethink the genre of urban biographies and argue that it can be given new potency when remodelled to become a means of reinvigorating the critical public. In the first part, I reflect upon some of the recent biographies of cities in the Czech Republic. In the second part, I discuss promising strategies, drawn from a sample of innovative urban biographies. In the final part, I outline the guiding principles of an adapted model for urban biographies. I propose that the cities must be repoliticized and recentred in the biographies, which entails adopting a political concept of the city, a deconstructive approach, utilization of the urban presence and a more urban-sensitive treatment of time.