Architecture and the Text: The (S)crypts of Joyce and Piranesi (Theoretical Perspectives in Architectura) [Paperback]

Ms. Jennifer Bloomer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 22, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0300063024 | ISBN-13: 978-0300063028

In this profoundly original book, Jennifer Bloomer addresses important philosophical questions concerning the relation between writing and architecture. Drawing together two cultural fantasies from different periods-one literary and one architectural-Bloomer uses the allegorical strategies she finds in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake to analyze three works of Giambattista Piranesi (Campo Marzio, Collegio, and the Carceri). Bloomer argues that architecture is a system of representation, with signifying possibilities that go beyond the merely symbolic. Bloomer reads the texts and ideas of Joyce and Piranesi against one another, further illuminating them with insights from myth, religion, linguistics, film theory, nursery rhymes, and personal anecdotes, as well as from poststructuralist, Marxist, and feminist criticism. Combining the strategies of Finnegans Wake, which Joyce himself called architectural, with conventional strategies of architectural thinking, Bloomer creates a new way of thinking architecturally that is not dominated by linear models and that appropriates ideas, parts, and theoretical frameworks from many other disciplines. Demonstrating her argument by dramatic example, Bloomer's treatise-like Joyce's word-play and Piranesi's play with visual representation-offers the pleasure of ongoing discovery.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (February 22, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300063024
• ISBN-13: 978-0300063028
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,218,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Suit Yourself on This, July 13, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Architecture and the Text: The (S)crypts of Joyce and Piranesi (Theoretical Perspectives in Architectura) (Hardcover)

But don't expect to learn much from Jennifer Bloomer about either Joyce or Piranesi. This is postmodern scholarship to the nth degree. Me, I prefer the originals. You've been warned!

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Milestone of Contemporary Architectural Theory, August 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Architecture and the Text: The (S)crypts of Joyce and Piranesi (Theoretical Perspectives in Architectura) (Paperback)

This is a seminal work of contemporary architectural theory. By joining the works of James Joyce and Giambattista Piranesi, Bloomer creates a web of architectural inferences and spatial possibilities that are virtually limitless. A daring and inspiring work which transcends traditional cultural boundaries, and which challenges the reader to question assumptions about literature and architecture

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars like a dreamy fall, January 27, 2002

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"e1ijah" (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Architecture and the Text: The (S)crypts of Joyce and Piranesi (Theoretical Perspectives in Architectura) (Paperback)

Fantastic! Extraordinary. A truly beautiful book. Transformed the way I look at things. Can't praise it highly enough. Jennifer Bloomer is now the only academic to whom I have wanted to write gushy fan letters.