Binnie, Jonathan Robert;
(1997)
A geography of urban desires: Sexual culture in the city.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Abstract
This thesis explores the relationship between the construction of sexual identities and the production of space. It offers a critical overview of the literature on the gendered and sexualised city. It considers the consequences of sexuality as erotic play for our understanding of the politics of space. It produces a queer geography, as distinct from a geography of lesbians and gay men. Questions of knowledge and truth, representation and cultural authority are central to this task. To produce a queer geography, the thesis examines three key forces and relationships that shape the production of sexualised space namely the relationships between queer subjectivity and the production of knowledge; the relationship between consumption and the space of representation, and the controls on the queer body in space (across national boundaries). These relationships are examined in the context of the politics and culture of gay male sadomasochism. Gay male sadomasochistic culture has played a significant role in re-imagining urban space, particularly in the revalorisation of derelict urban areas to produce a distinctive queer experience of the urban landscape. For sexual dissidents the experience of the contemporary urban landscape is shaped by longing and desire, but is also formed by experiences of loss, censorship, separation and isolation brought about by AIDS. These experiences are examined in the novels of experimental writer Stewart Home and the photography of 25/34 Photographes.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | A geography of urban desires: Sexual culture in the city. |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by ProQuest. |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10103877 |
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