Resumen de Translating Space: the Politics of Ruins,the Remote and Peripheral Places
This essay surveys recent artistic, literary and philosophical treatments of landscape thatuse metaphors of ruination, remoteness and the periphery. The discussion primarilyfocuses on Patrick Keiller’s recent works, particularly his film Robinson in Ruins, theaccount of remote spaces in Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts’ bookEdgelands, and a collection of essays by Stavros Stavrides on peripheral urban spaces,Towards the City of Thresholds. These treatments of landscape offer an attention to thesocial significance of spaces overlooked within wider cultural representations of place.It is suggested that all three illustrate the argument that mundane spaces can be read andtranslated into politicized landscapes offering alternative readings of past events, as wellas potential directions for future forms of sociality.
