Materializing the Metaphors of Global Cities

Singapore and Silicon Valley

Bibliographic Data

ID7439296
AuthorsTerrell Carver (0000-0003-3709-2474, University of Bristol, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume7
Issue3
Pages383-393
Publication date2010-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobalizations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1474-7731 • E-ISSN: 1474-774X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14747731003669768
OpenAlexW2086289651
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited27

In this article I focus methodologically on the productive power of catachresis, the forcing of language into unexpected comparisons and similes, neologisms and imagery, through which material geographies of meaning are produced as forms of power. I argue that in the 2003 'Report of the Remaking Singapore Committee' and similar documents discourses of planning and development are a practical form of science fiction. Singapore is imagined there as a 'cyber-sexy-city' through an articulation of metaphors centring on 'Silicon Valley'. These discourses adjust social policies, representational practices, and spatial environments to encourage and defend the 'right kind' of varied and in particular non-heteronormative sexualities that the 'creativity' involved in 'soft capitalism' is thought to require. This is surprising, given the Singaporean state's long-term political investment in 'traditional family values'. En este artículo me enfoco metodológicamente en el poder productivo de la catacresis, la coerción del lenguaje dentro de comparaciones y símiles inesperados, neologismos e imágenes, por las que las geografías materiales del significado se producen como formas de poder. Mantengo que en el 2003, 'El reporte del comité para la recreación de Singapur' y los documentos de planteamientos similares sobre la planeación y el desarrollo, son una forma práctica de la ciencia ficción. Singapur se imagina allí como una 'ciudad ciber-sexy' a través de una articulación de metáforas que se centran en 'Silicon Valley'. Estos planteamientos se ajustan a las políticas sociales, las prácticas representacionales y los medio ambientes espaciales, para motivar y defender la 'buena índole' de sexualidades variadas y particularmente no heteronormativas, que hace pensar en la 'creatividad' implicada en un 'capitalismo suave,' como algo necesario. Esto es sorprendente, dada la inversión política a largo plazo en 'los valores tradicionales de familia' del estado de Singapur. Keywords: materialismmetaphorscience fictionsexualitiesSilicon ValleySingapore Acknowledgements This article is heavily indebted to the published and unpublished work of, and further ideas in correspondence and conversation with, Kenneth Paul Andrew Sze-Sian Tan (National University of Singapore) and Paul E. Amar (University of California, Santa Barbara). My debts here extend far behind my direct citations of their work to their help in directing me to other works and literatures cited here. I owe another important debt regarding 'catachresis' to conversations with David Howarth (University of Essex) conducted at a European Consortium for Political Research Workshop on 'The Politics of Metaphor' held at the University of Granada, Spain, in April 2005. Notes Apologies to T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets, No. 1 'Burnt Norton'. Contra Thrift (2005 Thrift, N. 2005. Knowing Capitalism, London: Sage. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], pp. 2, 97), where the 'imaginary of the medieval world' and 'fantasy' are mentioned but not science fiction. See also Jameson (2007) Jameson, F. 2007. Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions, London: Verso. [Google Scholar], which discusses utopia and science fiction as intertwined genres

Articulation (sociology · Silicon valley · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Socioeconomic Development in Asia · Urban Planning and Governance

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