Volunteers, Priests and Community Work in Overpopulated New York City. (Literary Representations of Pre- and Post- 9/11 NYC)
Journal Title: Dialogo - Year 2018, Vol 4, Issue 2
Abstract
Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin (2009), considered a New York, Irish- American, immigrant, 1970s and post 9/11 novel, starts with Philippe Petit’s walk on a tightrope between the World Trade Center towers in New York in 1974. This historical event is used as a symbol which links space (Park Avenue and the Bronx at the extremes), time (1974 and 2006, the post 9/11 period) and characters’ stories. An overpopulated city in permanent change, New York is constructed in the novel vertically, horizontally as networks. The article will explore the relation between the real and fictional spaces of New York in its three dimensions, or as “thirdspace”, superimposing pre- and post- 9/11 cartographies. The most relvant dimension of the overcrowded city, the horizontal connection, is achieved through the hard work and dedication of an Irish Jesuite priest (in 1974) and two community volunteers (in 2006), each of them part of dedicated networks.
Authors and Affiliations
Nicoleta Stanca
Keywords
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- EP ID EP356856
- DOI 10.18638/dialogo.2018.4.2.16
- Views 149
- Downloads 0
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