A Tale of Two Cities”

Cemetery Heterotopia and Spatial Relations in Lagos City

Bibliographic Data

ID13630209
AuthorsShina Alimi (0000-0002-6940-3620, Obafemi Awolowo University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume91
Issue1
Pages474-496
Publication date2022-10-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00302228221135306
PMID36268623
OpenAlexW4306977948
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited36

What does cemetery teach us about the social world? How do spatial configurations of cemetery mirror urban social realities? In what ways can the understanding of spatial order of necropolis contribute to the episteme of spatial relations? In this paper, I juxtapose space practices in the cemetery with spatial relations and practices in the city of Lagos to frame an alternative way of imagining and writing about cityscapes and a new approach of thinking about social taxonomies such as gender, class, race, ethnicity and power. Following Foucault's theory of heterotopia and relational ontology of space this paper frames cemetery as a counter-site to the city. Drawing from oral interviews, participant observation and archival document, the paper argues that cemetery is a container that encloses different sites and sets of social relations as well as lived experiences

Epistemology · Ethnic group · Geography · Heterotopia (medicine · Linguistics · Michel foucault · Ontology · Political science · Politics · Social relation · Social space · Sociology · Space (punctuation) · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Spatial and Cultural Studies · Urban Planning and Governance

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