This study explores different visions of contemporary London using the tools of cultural and literary studies and comparing works by Iain Sinclair and Will Self. Both indebted to the tradition of psychogeography, these two authors consider the act of walking as the best way to investigate the changes, evolutions and revisions of the city. For both London is basically an experience where the physical and topographical environment evokes the endless reservoir of films, novels, images, and cultural materials that finds in this city a fruitful source of inspiration. The book features individual chapters devoted to the analysis of Great Apes, Sorry Meniscus, London Orbital, and The Book of Dave.
Nicoletta Vallorani is Professor of English Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Milan. Her specializations include visual studies, gender studies and queer studies. She is the author of Utopia di mezzo. Strategie compositive in When the Sleeper Wakes, di H.G.Wells (1996), Gli occhi e la voce. J. Conrad, Heart of Darkness: dal romanzo allo schermo (2000), Geografie londinesi. Saggi sul romanzo inglese contemporaneo (2003), Orbitals. Materiali e Script di London Orbital (2009), and Anti/corpi (2012). She also coordinates the project Docucity, on documentary filmmaking and urban geographies (www.docucity.unimi.it) and is a member of the editorial board of the online journal Altre Modernità. Her research has developed along a line of reflection that links literature to cinema and visual studies.