Fiorenzo Iuliano
Department of American and Cultural Studies, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Italy
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Published in: The ESF-LiU Conference Cities and Media: Cultural Perspectives on Urban Identities in a Mediatized World Vadstena; Sweden; 25-29 October; 2
Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 20:12, p. 127–133
Published: 2007-03-06
ISBN:
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
This paper aims at highlighting some aspects of postmodern reflection about the formation and representation of identity in the urban scenery. Starting from some of the by now canonical issues raised by Jean Baudrillard; such as simulacra; symbolical exchange; iperreality; I mean to relate the dynamics of the “hyperreal” city; as realized by media and the information system; to the pivotal question of the construction and deconstruction of subjecthood; with particular reference to gender and sexual identity. Two different landscapes (the periphery of Nebraska; and the metropolitan reality of Bombay) will be analysed through the layered and decentered perspective provided by two movies (Boys Don’t Cry and A Mermaid Called Aida) revolving around the interaction between the urban scenery and the construction of the marginal transsexual identity.
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