Armin Stocker (2018), The Dimension of Urbanism in Literature: Urban Spaces in Narrative Text Genres, Institute of Architecture Technology; 1st reviewer: Roger Riewe, 2nd reviewer: Bernd Kniess; 309 pages, German.
In the following, the question about the connection between perceptible and fictional spaces is analysed. Precisely: We analyse the relationship between urban spaces within the detectible, empiric world and fictional, narrated spaces in literature under the premise that space in literature is not just the space of action it is always a carrier of cultural meaning too.
To analyse such a relationship it is first to examine, if there is such a relationship at all and with which methods and under which circumstances the fictional and the perceptible spaces can be related to each other and how it is possible to illustrate this connection.
Further, it is to think about, if it is possible that a space produced by literature and the reader can be represented in such a manner, that the narrated city can be experienced in everyday life too.
The assumption that the spaces formed in literary fiction connect to reality and this connection can be analysed and presented by architecture is leading to the question about the connection of language, space and city.
Is it possible to grant fictional literary spaces a reference to reality and furthermore can a fictional city formed by words used as a „memory storage“ for urbanism and architecture?
What knowledge can architecture and urbanism generate from the analysis of narrated city spaces and how can therefore literary and perceptible spaces be related to each other and finally illustrated?