Suburbia Reconsidered, Volume 2

Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Suburbia and Culture
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-3-032-01808-3
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 141 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 410 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 2 of this 3-volume set explores representations of suburbia across various forms of popular culture and media, including rap, punk, and classical music, cinema, and theme parks. Contributors analyse how these cultural products both reflect and shape perceptions of suburban life. These diverse representations provide valuable insights into the evolving perceptions and realities of suburban existence across different contexts and media.

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

• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Humangeographie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The Municipal Theatre in Olomouc as a Cultural Suburb of Vienna (Lenka Krupková).- 2. The Rocky Nest: Suburban Visions in French Rap Albums (Caroline Civallero).- 3. The Crabgrass Baby: Images of Suburbia in the Works of Frank Zappa (Peter Sebastian Chesney).- 4. Working Class Housing Estates in Migrant Cinema: The Eastern European Perspective (Sandor Klapcsik).- 5. Understanding Suburban Liminality: The Representation of Mumbai in Indian Cinema (Sony Jalarajan Raj; Adith K Suresh).- 6. Disney Cities: The Case of Val d’Europe (Florian Freitag).- 7. Flowers in the Sky: Victorian Urban Roof Gardens as Surrogate Suburbs (Nathaniel Robert Walker).- 8. Flourishing Suburbs and Identity Building: Garden Cities in the Czech Lands (Vendula Hnídková).

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.