Abstract
Are our increasingly urban, highly mediatised lives less real or authentic than other ways of being in the world? Is the ‘mediapolis’ optional or are our identities and everyday lives so immersed in the ubiquitous and alluring logics of the media city that genuine escape is no longer possible? These questions intersect with enduring myths and metaphors about urban space. The modern city, for instance, has long been associated with alienation and an unnatural, inauthentic existence. This notion is exemplified by the dehumanising waste land of T.S. Eliot’s ‘unreal city’. And yet, urban environments and lifestyles now represent the dominant form of reality for most of the world’s population, providing the lens through which we imagine and experience ourselves, along with a variety of the city's others: the rural, the remote, and nature itself. This paper explores the relationship between urban life, mediatisation, and questions of the real, the natural, and authentic; it does so with the help of works of speculative fiction that extrapolate on a particular premise: the unreal city.
Bio
Natalie teaches into the writing and communication programs in the School of Communication and Arts and has a background in the study of literature, writing, and media & culture. Her research is focused on questions of urban space, identity, and narrative. She regularly invokes the capacity of speculative fiction to explore these questions.
****
Following the lecture, please join us for drinks at St Lucy's.
About Research Seminar and Workshop Series
The research seminar and workshop series' occur each semester, each with a different topic and guest speaker from UQ or otherwise.
The seminars occur on a Friday afternoon from 3-4 pm in the Digital Learning Space (Room 224) in the Joyce Ackroyd Building (#37).
Semester 1, 2018 Seminars & Workshops
|
Friday, 2 March |
The bizarre paradox of boat people Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
|
| Friday, 9 March 3-4pm |
Workshop: Metrics for Grant Writing and Promotion Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Angela Hannan and Kathleen Smeaton |
|
Friday, 16 March |
Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Dr Ewa Lajer-Burcharth Presented by the Power Institute with support from the Keir Foundation and the UQ Translational Research in Creative Practice research group. |
| Friday, 23 March 3-4pm |
UQ Art Museum |
Eleanor Heartney |
|
Friday, 20 April |
Rise of "Bright Noir": Redemption and Moral Optimism in American Contemporary TV-Noir Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Prof. Alberto Garcia
|
| Friday, 27 April 3-4pm |
Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Prof. Murray Pomerance (Ryerson University) |
| Friday, 4 May 3-4pm |
Paul Lazarsfeld and Facebook: Re-Reading Personal Influence in an Age of Social Media Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Prof Tom O'Regan |
| Wednesday, 9 May 3-4pm |
Rhythm as a Metaphor for Presence in Prose Fiction Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Dr Eliza Robertson |
| Friday, 18 May 3-4pm |
Capturing Knowledge in Creative Research Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Dr Skye Doherty |
| Friday, 1 June 3-4pm |
Masks, Simulations, and Elusive Sparks: Four Decades of the Digital Human Face in Cinema Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Dr Lisa Bode |
Semester 2, 2018 Seminars & Workshops
|
Monday, 23 July |
Strategic communication in the age of global information warfare: How it works Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
|
| Friday, 10 August 3-4pm |
TBA Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Dr Caro Wilson-Barnao |
|
Friday, 17 August |
Host community acculturation orientations, ethnic minority communication, and perceptions toward ethnic minorities: Studies of Chinese Hongkongers Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Prof Ling Chen |
| Friday, 24 August 3-4pm |
TBA UQ Art Museum |
Dr Dan Angus |
|
Friday, 31 August |
TBA Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Dr Beth Driscoll |
| Friday, 7 September 3-4pm |
TBA Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Dr Ted Nannicelli |
| Friday, 21 September 3-4pm |
TBA Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
A/Prof Kim Wilkins |
| Friday, 5 October 3-4pm |
TBA Digital Learning Space (Room 224, Level 2), |
Dr Marg Henderson |
