Heterotopia
From Geography
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Origins
The term, heterotopia, is first introduced by the French philosopher Michel Foucault in 1967 during a conference lecture, Des espaces autres. (Foucault, 1967) It functions as a concept within human geography. Its key element is to describe places and spaces functioning in a non-hegemonic state.
Heterotopias are spaces of otherness that are neither here or there, that are simultaneously physical and mental eg space of a phone call The term was coined by Foucault in the late 1960’s and had an impact on urban theory. Spaces were called heterotopia because according to Foucault ‘they have injected altherity into the sameness, the commonplace, the topicality of everyday society’. The literal meaning of heterotopia is ‘other places’ and describes a world off centre with respect to normal or everyday spaces, one that possesses multiple, fragmented or even incompatible meanings. (Dehaene and Cauter, 2008)
Foucault says there is probably not a single culture in the world that fails to constitute a heterotopia but obviously they can take many forms, he goes on to say that there are however two main categories. The first one being crisis heterotopia which is when there are privileged or sacred places, reserved for individuals who are, in relation to society and to the human environment in which they live, in a state of crisis for example adolescents or the elderly. These heterotopias are disappearing and being replaced by what he believes as heterotopias of deviation where there are individuals whose behaviour is deviant in relation to the required norm e.g. psychiatric hospitals. The second principle regards the description of a heterotopia in that of a society, each heterotopia has a precise and determined function within a society. (Foucault and Miskowiec, 1986) an important characteristic of Foucault's heterotopia seems to be that it requires some significant travelösome expulsion from `mainstream' society and its habits. This might actually reinforce the stability of the society, as gardens and saunas tend to do. (Saldanha, 2007, p. 2083)
Examples of heterotopia
The Mirror
An example of a heterotopia is when you look in the mirror. The mirror shows you a place and place that is functioning in a non-hegemonic state. The mirror creates a space that doens't exist in the real world, but you can perceive it in your head because your eyes perceive this space. Therefore this space is both physical and mental. This space has incompatible meanings. But the mirror itself is yet a real object, it shapes the relation between you and your image.
The Ship
According to Foucault, the ultimate example of heterotopia is a ship. Placeless, topographically drifting, an introverted system, completely isolated and self-sufficient, but dependent on the waves and winds of the ocean. "In societies without boats, imagination would dehydrate" (Foucault, 2001, p.395) A ship is an institution in its own that with its own (topographically placeless) locality and culture. By anchoring in different places and harbours, it changes these places, creating a temporary counter-place, that mirrors the locality and culture of the hosting harbour by its otherness. An illustrative contemporary example is the Dutch abortion boat that recently (and notoriously) visited Morroco and caused a lot of discussion and critique.
A Heterotopology
In order to analyse these places of otherness, Foucault describes six principles that are part of what he calls a 'heterotopology'. Foucault's own remark on this heterotopology is that it should not be seen as an official scientific analysis. Nevertheless, it gives a little more insight in the meanings and relations of the wide variety of heterotopias he mentions in his article.
1st principle: Although there are many different kinds of heterotopias, Foucault distinguishes two types that are most important: - the heterotopia of crisis: sacred and forbidden places, addressing people in specific situations of crises(a type of heterotopia that, in our society, is slowly dissappearing and is getting replaced by the second type: the heterotopias of deviation). - the heterotopia of deviation: addressing people that are different from accepted standards (e.g. a prison, a hospital, an elderly home, a psychiatric clinic).
2nd principle: The function of a heterotopia is not necessarily fixed, but can evolve through the development and history of a certain culture.
3rd principle: A heterotopia can contain multiple places at the same time, which are in fact not unitable. In that sense the heterotopia is a contradictory place (e.g. the cinema, the theatre, the garden).
4th principle: The heterotopia exists in, contains, or produces its own 'timezone' (heterochronia). It is 'connected to the borders of time'. A distinction is being made between the heterotopias of cumulative or endless time (e.g. the cemetery, the museum, the library) and the heterotopias of temporality (e.g. the marketplace, tourist villages).
5th principle: Heterotopias need a system of entrances and exits, which borders and distinguishes it from its environment. This can be a physical system (gate, a bridge, a porch, a driveway) but it can also be non-physical in the form of a religious or hygienic ritual (e.g. washing feet before entering a mosk).
6th principle: Heterotopias have a certain function in relation to their environment, that can shift between creating an illusionary place (e.g. the brothel) or creating a place of compensation (e.g. the colony).
(Over andere ruimten, Foucault, M., 2001)
References
- Michel Foucault, Des espaces autres (1967), Hétérotopies. (audio extract)[1]
- Michel Foucault. Of Other Spaces (1967), Heterotopias.
- Foucault, M. (2001). Over andere ruimten. In H. Heynen, A. Loeckx, L. De Cauter, K. Van Herck (Eds.) Dat is architectuur. Sleutelteksten uit de twintigste eeuw. pp. 391-395. Rotterdam: Uitgeverij 010
- Hetero to Pia and the City public Space in a Post-civil Society, Dehaene, Cauter, 2008
- Of Other Spaces, M. Foucault and J. Miskowiec, 1986, Diacritics, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 22-2
- Saldanha, A. (2008) Heterotopia and Structuralism Environment and Planning A, Vol. 40, p. 2083
Contributors
- Page published by Sander Linssen
- Page edited by Laura Brunning
- Page enhanced with A heterotopology by Isis Boot
- Page enhanced by Lieke Vogels 24 October 2012
