This essay was originally written as part of my PhD comprehensive examinations. It was written to address connections between theories of the public sphere and concerns about public space, and to conceptualize the urban environment as a public realm. Introduction Questions of space have always been implicated with the concept of the public sphere, but … Continue reading Public space, the public sphere, and the urban as public realm
Tag: publicsphere
Wound Culture and Public Space: Mark Seltzer’s concept of the pathological public sphere
Mark Seltzer: Serial Killers (II): The Pathological Public Sphere Critical Inquiry, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Autumn, 1995), pp. 122-149 Seltzer’s essay on serial killers and the pathological public sphere immediately calls J.G. Ballard to mind. Eventually Seltzer does cite Ballard, but it is in reference to Ballard’s Atrocity Exhibition, a selection that renders the author’s omission … Continue reading Wound Culture and Public Space: Mark Seltzer’s concept of the pathological public sphere
Flooding the Zone vs Flaming: Online argumentation and deliberation
In “The Logos of the Blogosphere,” Pfister employs the metaphor of “flooding the zone” to examine the role of bloggers as “potent agents of public deliberation” (p. 141). Using the 2002 controversy over Lott’s remarks while honoring Strom Thurmond, Pfister traces a timeline showing how bloggers and online commentators persistently pushed the story until mainstream … Continue reading Flooding the Zone vs Flaming: Online argumentation and deliberation