Kinshasa
Tales of the Invisible City
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 24. March 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-90-5867-967-3 (ISBN)
Description
In their internationally acclaimed book, Kinshasa, anthropologist Filip De Boeck and photographer Marie-Francoise Plissart provide a history not only of the physical and visible urban reality that Kinshasa presents today but also of a second, invisible city as it exists in the mind and imagination of its inhabitants. They bring to light a mirroring reality lurking underneath the surface of the visible world and explore the constant transactions that take place between these two levels in Kinshasa's urban scape. With the exhibition that accompanied the release of their Kinshasa book, the authors won a Golden Lion at the 11th International Architecture Bienniale in Venice, 2004. This beautifully illustrated publication is now again made available. Based on lengthy field research, it provides insight into the imaginative ways in which local urban subjects continue to make sense of their worlds and invent cultural strategies to cope with the breakdown of urban infrastructure.
Reviews / Votes
"This is an important book, extraordinarily rich in ethnographic detail about Kinshasa. Scholars and graduate students will find this book very useful in understanding the urban realities of Kinshasa and more broadly the impact of globalization on African cities."-Urban Affairs Review "If we are to advance a more grounded and differentiated understanding of African urban settlements, this kind of work is essential."-Edgar Pieterse, Director of the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town "Rich as the book is with passion, imagery, and well-researched stories, it is readably in conversation with, and challenging, Western urban theory (whether Harvey, Foucault, Lefebvre, de Certeau, or others), but also with representations of Kinshasa and of the Congo."-Garth Myers, author of African Cities: Alternative Visions of Urban Theory and Practice "Particularly formative work on African cities."-Sarah Nuttall, Director of Wits Institute for Social and Economic ResearchMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Leuven
Belgium
Target group
College/higher education
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
100 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 170 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
825 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-5867-967-3 (9789058679673)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Filip De Boeck is Professor of Anthropology at KU Leuven. Marie-Francoise Plissart is a photographer whose solo exhibitions include A World without End (Museum of Photography in Antwerp, 2008).
Content
PREFACE Reflecting on Reflection through Photography and Text
KINSHASA Tales of the Invisible City and the Second World. An Introduction
INVISIBLE CITIES I The 'Giant of Kinshasa', The Story of a Conversion
BEYOND THE GRAVE Memory, Time, Apocalypse and Death in Kinshasa
INVISIBLE CITIES II Omba Shako, The Story of a Street Kid
THE SECOND WORLD Children, the Street and the Occult in Kinshasa
INVISIBLE CITIES III Mado, The Story of a Female Diamond Smuggler
THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE (IM)POSSIBLE
Notes References Index of names Index of illustrations
KINSHASA Tales of the Invisible City and the Second World. An Introduction
INVISIBLE CITIES I The 'Giant of Kinshasa', The Story of a Conversion
BEYOND THE GRAVE Memory, Time, Apocalypse and Death in Kinshasa
INVISIBLE CITIES II Omba Shako, The Story of a Street Kid
THE SECOND WORLD Children, the Street and the Occult in Kinshasa
INVISIBLE CITIES III Mado, The Story of a Female Diamond Smuggler
THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE (IM)POSSIBLE
Notes References Index of names Index of illustrations