Suburbia Reconsidered, Volume 1

Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Suburbia and Literature
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-3-032-01786-4
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 183 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 475 g

This 3-volume set examines how suburban spaces shape and reflect human experiences in North America, Europe, and Asia, bringing together works by an international group of scholars who explore suburbia through critical analyses of literature, culture, sociology, history, politics, and urban planning. The multidisciplinary and international scope of each volume offers readers a wide breadth of perspectives. thus contributes significantly to the expanding field of suburban studies by offering novel insights into the representation of suburbs in literature, the cultural significance of suburban environments, and the socio-economic challenges confronting suburban communities across the globe.

Volume 1 of this 3-volume set examines the depiction of suburban spaces in 20th- and 21st-century British, American, Canadian, and French literature. The contributors present original perspectives on how suburban environments influence human experiences and identities, as reflected in literature. Chapters in this section also probe the intersections of gender, race, and ethnicity within suburban fiction, and traverse popular genres from detective novels to memoirs.

By integrating insights from literature, cultural studies, sociology, history, and urban planning,  enhances our understanding of suburban spaces and their potential for positive transformation, and encourages scholars to explore new methodologies and perspectives.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Flajšarová, Pavlína

Flajšar, Jirí

Freitag, Florian

Nicolaides, Becky

Wiese, Andrew

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Humangeographie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Kommunal-, Regional-, und Landespolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. A Suburban Park at the Intersection of Human Destinies Affected by a Pandemic in Sylvie Germain’s Novel Brèves de solitude (Václava Bakešová).- 2. Between the Rural and the Urban: The Inhabitation of Space in the Work of Marie-Hélène Lafon (Marie Voždová).- 3. Living in the in-between: Reflections on Peri-urban Literature as an Extension of Suburban Literature (Marina Ortrud Hertrampf).- 4. Representation of the Algiers Urban Space in Nina Bouraoui's Autofictional Novels (Jirina Matoušková).- 5. Paris Extra-muros; Through the Lens of the Detective Novel (Marcela Poucová).- 6. The Canadian Suburban Novel 1940–2020: Redefining the Rudiments of the Genre (Maxmilian Rhys).- 7. Paddling your Own Canoe in Canadian Conurbia? Emily Pauline Johnson and the Greater Golden Horseshoe (Barbara Buchenau).- 8. Romanticized Dartmoor: Landscape and Folklore in Christie’s The Sittaford Mystery (Marie Voždová).- 9. The Portrayal of London in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere and Ben Aaronovich’s Rivers of London (Cristina Filiberti).- 10. Ethnicity, Sub/urbanisation, and Identity in the Fiction by British Novelist Andrea Levy (Pavlína Flajšarová).- 11. The Beach by the Banyan: Where the Women of Oceania Preside (Rebekah Bloyd).- 12. The Challenges of Suburban Domesticity in Women’s Poetry (Jirí Flajšar).

Über Autor(innen)

Pavlína Flajšarová, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Palacký University Olomouc. A former Fulbright visiting researcher in Washington, D.C., she authored? ,? ,? , and? . She co-authored books on Scottish fiction and Canadian literary history. Her work centers on British ethnic and diasporic literature.

Jirí Flajšar is a Czech scholar and associate professor at Palacký University, Olomouc, specializing in American and Canadian literature, suburban literature, and contemporary poetry. His notable publications include  (2003), (2016), and (2014). He has also co-edited  (2015) and published research on postwar American poetry and suburban identity.

Florian Freitag is Professor of American Literary and Media Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen, specializing in (sub)urban studies, themed spaces, tourism, and queer studies. Previously assistant professor at JGU Mainz and visiting scholar at CUNY, he earned his Habilitation in 2019 and Ph.D. in 2011. His publications include? ?and? , as well as key works on theme parks, intermediality, and nationalism in heritage sites.

Becky Nicolaides is a historian specializing in North American suburban history, focusing on suburban diversity and politics. She earned her PhD in American history from Columbia University. Nicolaides is the author of  (2002), co-editor of   (2016), and author of  (2024). She has also consulted on historic preservation and civic memory projects in Los Angeles and is a research affiliate at the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. 

Andrew Wiese is a Professor of U.S. Urban and Environmental History at San Diego State University, specializing in suburbanization, housing history, race, space, and power dynamics. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University. Wiese is the author of  (2004). He co-edited  (2006, 2016) with Becky Nicolaides, a key text on American suburban history. His current research focuses on environmental politics and social justice in California, especially San Diego.