As opposed to the millions of Diaspar, the small village of Airlee is composed of less than a thousand. Lys, on the other hand, couldnвЂ™t be more different. Because they were so crowded together, the inhabitants of the city maintained a reserve that was hard to penetrate. Within a few days of arriving in Diaspar, Hilvar had met more people than in his entire life. HilvarвЂ™s musings on the city reflect his general feelings of loneliness among a sea of people: Like a g esellschaft society, the citizens of Diaspar feel a lessened connection with each other. Matter can be conjured out of thin air, familial ties are affectionate at best, and even the cityвЂ™s founding legends are (spoiler alert) merely that, legends created to stunt its citizensвЂ™ sense of curiosity, exploration and adventure. Diaspar alone had challenged Eternity, defending itself and all it sheltered against the slow attrition of the ages, the ravages of decay, and the corruption of rust.Дiaspar could be the conventional вЂњCityвЂќ trope, an ephemeral society whose foundations, both literal and ideological, are based on intangibilities. Some had lasted for centuries, some for milleniums, before Time had swept away even their names. Men had built cities before, but never a city such as this. Mechanical solidarity, similar to gemeinschaft, emphasizes similarity and collective authority o rganic solidarity, similar to gesellschaft,В emphasizes difference and individual initiative (The similarities, however, stop there). TГ¶nniesвЂ™ classifications are similar in some ways to Г‰mile DurkheimвЂs theories on mechanical vs. Social cohesion in Gesellschafts typically derives from a more elaborate division of labor. Gesellschaften emphasize secondary relationships rather than familial or community ties, and there is generally less individual loyalty to society. Gesellschaft (вЂњsocietyвЂќ/вЂќcivil societyвЂќ/вЂќassociationвЂќ), on the other hand,В is anВ organizations in which the individual orientsВ themself towards the larger grouping in terms ofВ their own self-interest. In such societies there is seldom a need to enforce social control externally, due to a collective sense of loyalty individuals feel for society. Gemeinschafts are characterized byДЄ moderate division of labour, strong personal relationships, strong families, and relatively simple social institutions. Gemeinschaft (вЂњcommunityвЂќ) is a type of organization in which its members are oriented as much, if not more, towards the larger group rather than their own individual interests, and are regulated by common mores. What it brought to mind for me, and what I couldnвЂ™t quite express in class but now with the aid of a computer I can (ta-dah!), were the twin terms of gemeinschaft and gesellschaft, Ferdinand TГ¶nniesвЂ sociological categories delineating two types of societies. вЂњspaceвЂќвЂ¦ In particular we were talking about the difference in the social structure between the two cities. вЂњMachineвЂќ, вЂњimmortalityвЂќ vs.В вЂњdeathвЂќ, вЂњboundednessвЂќ vs. One of the things we talked about last class regarding The City and the Stars was the playing off of one another between Diaspar and Lys and the dichotomies that the two represented: вЂњthe CityвЂќ vs. This entry was posted in Uncategorized on Januby Matthew Blunderfield. Is Clark imagining a proto-digital environment?В How do elements of spirituality and mysticism relate with the realities of mediated (online) communication? Questions of memory and materiality in the City of Diaspar вЂ“ how much of it is fabricated, re-membered from its own archives? The magazine itself is worth looking through as well: a choice essay thinking specifically about the title of the piece. Wandering sickness and the gas of peace вЂ“ visual essay by derek horton. Also, a lucky Kaufman interview by life without buildings) ( Synechdoche New York is playing next week at the Norm. RussiaвЂ™s Russia in the Black seaвЂ¦with its very own Black sea. The lotus eaters вЂ“ re: vancouver, diaspar Vacant infrastructure, the вЂcity without usвЂ™, encryptedВ with memory of its inhabitants. Below are some divergent, digressive things somehow related to yesterdayвЂ™s seminar вЂ“ worth looking through:Дў3 skidoo вЂ“ short film we opened with, on the post-apocalyptic metropolis Montreal after the neutron-bomb.

For next class IвЂ™ll try to set a more coherent path for the discussion. YesterdayвЂ™s seminar was loopier than usual вЂ“ a morass of starting points, links and ideas that weвЂ™ll hopefully be able to follow through and make sense of as we move on to Ballard.

A womanвЂ™s disembodied voice calls out for court roomВ reconvenings, dissolving inside the empty glass atrium, with the occasional clatter of footsteps and the quiet blur of conversation drifting up from the floors below. IвЂ™m sitting on the sixth floor balcony of the downtown law courts, looking out on the waists and necks of Howe streetВ high-rises.

Pandemonium movie 2009