Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity (Cultural Studies)

An ever-increasing proportion of our lives is spent in supermarkets, airports and hotels, on motorways or in front of TVs, computer and cash machines. This invasion of the world by what Marc Auge calls 'non-space' results in a profound alteration of awareness: something we perceive, but only in a partial and incoherent manner. Auge uses the concept of 'supermodernity' to describe the logic of these late-capitalist phenomena - a logic of excessive information and excessive space. In this fascinating and lucid essay he seeks to establish and intellectual armature for an anthropology of supermodernity. Starting with an attempt to disentangle anthropology from history, Auge goes on to map the distinction between place, encrusted with historical monuments and creative social life, and non-place, to which individuals are connected in a uniform manner and where no organic social life is possible. Unlike Baudelairean modernity, where old and new are interwoven, supermodernity is self-contained: from the motorway or aircraft, local or exotic particularities are presented two-dimensionally as a sort of theme-park spectacle. Auge does not suggest that supermodernity is all-encompassing: place still exist outside non-place and tend to reconstitute themselves inside it. But he argues powerfully that we are in transit through non-place for more and more of our time, as if between immense parentheses, and concludes that this new form of solitude should become the subject of an anthropology of its own. 0134_auge_1_Page_67......Page 0 0002_auge_1_Page_01......Page 1 0003_auge_1_Page_02......Page 2 0004_auge_1_Page_02......Page 3 0005_auge_1_Page_03......Page 4 0006_auge_1_Page_03......Page 5 0008_auge_1_Page_04......Page 6 0010_auge_1_Page_05......Page 8 0011_auge_1_Page_06......Page 9 0012_auge_1_Page_06......Page 10 0013_auge_1_Page_07......Page 11 0014_auge_1_Page_07......Page 12 0015_auge_1_Page_08......Page 13 0016_auge_1_Page_08......Page 14 0017_auge_1_Page_09......Page 15 0018_auge_1_Page_09......Page 16 0019_auge_1_Page_10......Page 17 0020_auge_1_Page_10......Page 18 0021_auge_1_Page_11......Page 19 0022_auge_1_Page_11......Page 20 0023_auge_1_Page_12......Page 21 0024_auge_1_Page_12......Page 22 0025_auge_1_Page_13......Page 23 0026_auge_1_Page_13......Page 24 0027_auge_1_Page_14......Page 25 0028_auge_1_Page_14......Page 26 0029_auge_1_Page_15......Page 27 0030_auge_1_Page_15......Page 28 0031_auge_1_Page_16......Page 29 0032_auge_1_Page_16......Page 30 0033_auge_1_Page_17......Page 31 0034_auge_1_Page_17......Page 32 0035_auge_1_Page_18......Page 33 0036_auge_1_Page_18......Page 34 0037_auge_1_Page_19......Page 35 0038_auge_1_Page_19......Page 36 0039_auge_1_Page_20......Page 37 0040_auge_1_Page_20......Page 39 0041_auge_1_Page_21......Page 38 0042_auge_1_Page_21......Page 40 0043_auge_1_Page_22......Page 42 0044_auge_1_Page_22......Page 41 0045_auge_1_Page_23......Page 44 0046_auge_1_Page_23......Page 43 0047_auge_1_Page_24......Page 45 0048_auge_1_Page_24......Page 46 0049_auge_1_Page_25......Page 48 0050_auge_1_Page_25......Page 47 0051_auge_1_Page_26......Page 49 0052_auge_1_Page_26......Page 50 0053_auge_1_Page_27......Page 51 0054_auge_1_Page_27......Page 52 0055_auge_1_Page_28......Page 53 0056_auge_1_Page_28......Page 54 0059_auge_1_Page_30......Page 56 0060_auge_1_Page_30......Page 55 0061_auge_1_Page_31......Page 57 0062_auge_1_Page_31......Page 58 0063_auge_1_Page_32......Page 59 0064_auge_1_Page_32......Page 60 0065_auge_1_Page_33......Page 61 0066_auge_1_Page_33......Page 62 0067_auge_1_Page_34......Page 63 0068_auge_1_Page_34......Page 64 0069_auge_1_Page_35......Page 65 0070_auge_1_Page_35......Page 66 0071_auge_1_Page_36......Page 67 0072_auge_1_Page_36......Page 68 0073_auge_1_Page_37......Page 69 0074_auge_1_Page_37......Page 70 0075_auge_1_Page_38......Page 71 0076_auge_1_Page_38......Page 72 0077_auge_1_Page_39......Page 73 0078_auge_1_Page_39......Page 74 0079_auge_1_Page_40......Page 75 0080_auge_1_Page_40......Page 76 0081_auge_1_Page_41......Page 77 0082_auge_1_Page_41......Page 78 0083_auge_1_Page_42......Page 79 0084_auge_1_Page_42......Page 80 0085_auge_1_Page_43......Page 81 0086_auge_1_Page_43......Page 82 0087_auge_1_Page_44......Page 83 0088_auge_1_Page_44......Page 84 0089_auge_1_Page_45......Page 85 0090_auge_1_Page_45......Page 86 0091_auge_1_Page_46......Page 88 0092_auge_1_Page_46......Page 87 0093_auge_1_Page_47......Page 90 0094_auge_1_Page_47......Page 89 0095_auge_1_Page_48......Page 92 0096_auge_1_Page_48......Page 91 0097_auge_1_Page_49......Page 94 0098_auge_1_Page_49......Page 93 0099_auge_1_Page_50......Page 95 0100_auge_1_Page_50......Page 96 0101_auge_1_Page_51......Page 97 0102_auge_1_Page_51......Page 98 0103_auge_1_Page_52......Page 99 0104_auge_1_Page_52......Page 100 0105_auge_1_Page_53......Page 101 0106_auge_1_Page_53......Page 102 0107_auge_1_Page_54......Page 103 0108_auge_1_Page_54......Page 104 0109_auge_1_Page_55......Page 105 0110_auge_1_Page_55......Page 106 0111_auge_1_Page_56......Page 107 0112_auge_1_Page_56......Page 108 0113_auge_1_Page_57......Page 109 0114_auge_1_Page_57......Page 110 0115_auge_1_Page_58......Page 111 0116_auge_1_Page_58......Page 112 0117_auge_1_Page_59......Page 113 0118_auge_1_Page_59......Page 114 0119_auge_1_Page_60......Page 115 0120_auge_1_Page_60......Page 116 0121_auge_1_Page_61......Page 117 0122_auge_1_Page_61......Page 118 0123_auge_1_Page_62......Page 119 0124_auge_1_Page_62......Page 120 0125_auge_1_Page_63......Page 121 0126_auge_1_Page_63......Page 122 0127_auge_1_Page_64......Page 123 0128_auge_1_Page_64......Page 124 0129_auge_1_Page_65......Page 125 0130_auge_1_Page_65......Page 126 0131_auge_1_Page_66......Page 127 0132_auge_1_Page_66......Page 128 0133_auge_1_Page_67......Page 129 An Ever-increasing Proportion Of Our Lives Is Spent In Supermarkets, Airports And Hotels, On Motorways Or In Front Of Tvs, Computers And Cash Machines. This Invasion Of The World By What Marc Augé Calls Non-space Results In A Profound Alteration Of Awareness: Something We Perceive, But Only In A Partial And Incoherent Manner. Augé Uses The Concept Of Supermodernity To Describe A Situation Of Excessive Information And Excessive Space. In This Fascinating Essay He Seeks To Establish An Intellectual Armature For An Anthropology Of Supermodernity. The Near And The Elsewhere -- Anthropological Place -- From Places To Non-places -- Epilogue. Marc Augé ; Translated By John Howe. Translation Of: Non-lieux : Introduction à Une Anthropologie De La Surmodernité. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 121-122).