1st Edition

Closet Space Geographies of Metaphor from the Body to the Globe

By Michael P. Brown Copyright 2000
    184 Pages
    by Routledge

    192 Pages
    by Routledge

    Is the closet just a metaphor? Closet Space provides a highly original account of the spatial metaphor of "the closet", and is the first geography text to focus on this important issue. Using a variety of research techniques and materials, the book explores the closet through texts including:
    * the oral histories of gay men in the UK and US
    * the sexualised landscape of a New Zealand city
    * the national census of Britain and the US
    * international travel guides and travelogues
    and refers to the work of Butler, Lefebvre and Foucault.

    List of figures ix
    List of tables xi
    Acknowledgements xiii
    1 Epistemologies and geographies of the closet 1
    2 The bodies in the closet: performativity, space and
    personal narratives 27
    3 Producing the closet in urban space: spatiality,
    sexuality and capitalism 54
    4 National closets: governmentality, sexuality and
    the census 88
    WITH PAUL BOYLE
    5 Worlding the closet: desire, travel and writing 116
    6 Conclusion: where is the closet? 141
    Bibliography 150
    Index

    Biography

    Michael P. Brown