Eterotopia

by Michel Foucault

I saggi di Michel Foucault presentati in questa raccolta trattano del concetto di spazio contemporaneo secondo una duplice accezione: in relazione generica al rapporto col potere e con gli apparati collettivi; in relazione allo spazio del fuori, quello del vissuto. In entrambi i casi centrale resta il concetto di eterotopia. quel luogo che ha il potere di giustapporre diversi spazi che sembrano tra loro incompatibili. Eterotopie, i non-luoghi della nostra contemporaneità, sono per Foucault i cimiteri, gli specchi, i musei e le biblioteche, le feste ma anche, paradossalmente, lo spazio virtuale del linguaggio. Questo infatti si situa sempre in un territorio sospeso, in quel "punto cieco da cui promanano le cose e le parole nel momento in cui si portano verso il loro punto d'incontro".

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Architecture, France, Essays, Theory, Politics

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Paul-Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationships between power and knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control through societal institutions. Though often cited as a structuralist and postmodernist, Foucault rejected these labels. His thought has influenced academics, especially those working in communication studies, anthropology, psychology, sociology, criminology, cultural studies, literary theory, feminism, Marxism and critical theory.
Born in Poitiers, France, into an upper-middle-class family, Foucault was educated at the Lycée Henri-IV, at the École Normale Supérieure, where he developed an interest in philosophy and came under the influence of his tutors Jean Hyppolite and Louis Althusser, and at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), where he earned degrees in philosophy and psychology. After several years as a cultural diplomat abroad, he returned to France and published his first major book, The History of Madness (1961). After obtaining work between 1960 and 1966 at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, he produced The Birth of the Clinic (1963) and The Order of Things (1966), publications that displayed his increasing involvement with structuralism, from which he later distanced himself. These first three histories exemplified a historiographical technique Foucault was developing called "archaeology".
From 1966 to 1968, Foucault lectured at the University of Tunis before returning to France, where he became head of the philosophy department at the new experimental university of Paris VIII. Foucault subsequently published The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969). In 1970, Foucault was admitted to the Collège de France, a membership he retained until his death. He also became active in several left-wing groups involved in campaigns against racism and human rights abuses and for penal reform. Foucault later published Discipline and Punish (1975) and The History of Sexuality (1976), in which he developed archaeological and genealogical methods that emphasized the role that power plays in society.
Foucault died in Paris from complications of HIV/AIDS; he became the first public figure in France to die from complications of the disease. His partner Daniel Defert founded the AIDES charity in his memory.

Reviews

[Nassos Kontonatsios]

[ … Οι οίκοι ανοχής και οι αποικίες είναι οι δυο ακραίοι τύποι ετεροτοπίας, και αν σκεφτούμε εντέλει ότι το καράβι είναι ένα κομμάτι χώρου που επιπλέει, ένας άτοπος τόπος, που ζει από μόνος του που είναι κλεισμένος στον εαυτό του και που έχει συγχρόνως παραδοθεί στο άπειρο της θάλασσας και που από λιμάνι σε λιμάνι, από βάρδια σε βάρδια, από οίκο ανοχής σε οίκο ανοχής, πηγαίνει μέχρι τις αποικίες αναζητώντας ό,τι πολυτιμότερο έχουν στους κήπους τους, τότε καταλαβαίνουμε γιατί το καράβι ήταν για τον πολιτισμό μας, από τον 16ο αιώνα μέχρι τις μέρες μας, όχι μόνο το μεγαλύτερο εργαλείο οικονομικής ανάπτυξης αλλά και η μεγαλύτερη δεξαμενή φαντασίας.

Το πλοίο είναι η κατεξοχήν ετεροτοπία. Στους πολιτισμούς δίχως καράβια τα όνειρα αποστειρώνονται, η κατασκοπεία αντικαθιστά την περιπέτεια και η αστυνομία τους πειρατές … ]

[Evoli]

Heterotopias = one of my favorite topics ever!!!

[Coco]

De nuevo, una lectura corta (6pgs) para la uni!

[Shira]

Uhm.. I am flabbergasted. Such a short text and the way I think of carpets and gardens now, but in particular carpets, has completely changed. Not to mention that I want to run around and exclaim that I want to study the study of spaces and not-spaces and other spaces and what not to do with space! (maybe not that space but maybe even that one too.)

”The traditional garden of the Persians was a sacred space that was supposed to bring together inside its rectangle four parts representing the four parts of the world, with a space still more sacred than the others that were like an umbilicus, the navel of the world at its center (the basin and water fountain were there); and all the vegetation of the garden was supposed to come together in this space, in this sort of microcosm. As for carpets, they were originally reproductions of gardens (the garden is a rug onto which the whole world comes to enact its symbolic perfection, and the rug is a sort of garden that can move across space). The garden is the smallest parcel of the world and then it is the totality of the world. The garden has been a sort of happy, universalizing heterotopia since the beginnings of antiquity (our modern zoological gardens spring from that source).”

Edit: Two days after writing the above, I just wanted to place my remark in the context of never having read Foucault before and just feeling happy to encounter something that generally sparks my interest, which doesn't happen that often since my interest doesn't seem to stay with things for a long time, rather they stay with too many at the same time so that it almost equals having no interests. Or at least, It feels a bit like that. Yet again I'm not sure if this interest of spaces will stick, but Foucault definitely sparked an interest for the subject, even though due to the shortness of this piece I do think it would benefit from reading more about it. But that is a good thing.

[Antje]

Foucault....Heterotopien....vor achtzehn Jahren musste ich mich gezwungenermaßen mit ihnen beiden befassen und ein Referat halten. Zuvor hatte ich noch nie davon gehört und trotzdem war ich prompt vom Klang der beiden Wörter eingenommen. Offenbar in jenem Maße, dass sie mir bis heute im Gedächtnis verblieben sind und ich just wissen wollte, was ich - inzwischen gereifter und belesener - von dem Vortrag halte.

Ich glaube, mein Interesse für Philosophie, der Suche nach Erkenntnis, nach Wahrheit und Sinnhaftigkeit ist damals größer gewesen. Zwar lösen Foucaults Beispiele von Heterotopien noch immer Gedankenströme in mir aus, insbesondere die Bedeutung von deren wie Friedhöfe, Bordelle oder Hochzeitsreisen. Aber etwas Entscheidendes hat sich verändert. Mich interessieren heute vielmehr die historischen Hintergründe und Details dieser Räume und weniger die Frage, welche Art Räume es gibt und wie sie sich charakterisieren lassen und wann eine Heterotopie eine Heterotopie ist. Obwohl eine philosophische Diskussionsrunde über Heterotopie und Utopie sicher reizvoll ist.

Sein zweiter Vortrag über utopische Körper verstand mich leider wenig zu fesseln und auf eine philosophische Reise mitzunehmen. Allein seine Feststellung, dass der menschliche Körper der Hauptakteur aller Utopien sei und das damit verbundene Beispiel vom Sinn des Tätowierens, Schminkens und Maskierens fand ich höchst aufschlussreich.

[Sara]

Ma se per tre volte davanti allo specchio ripeto
"il corpo è il punto zero del mondo",
mi apparirà Foucault?

[Kim Moulaire]

Intéressant. Nous questionne sur ce qui nous entoure. Finalement, tu vas au cinéma, d'accord, mais, c'est un espace qui dispose d'une utopie in-situ. Tu regardes un rectangle blanc, dans lequel se trouve un autre espace, dans lequel se situe l'action du film. C'est une hétérotopie, un lieu ouvert qui a la propriété de nous maintenir “au dehors”.

[Raquel]

Belíssimas reflexões de Foucault. Muito breves mas que têm o sortilégio de dizer tudo. Esta obra é fruto de duas conferências de Foucault e a clareza do seu discurso é magistral. É como se a palavra primeiro falada e depois reduzida a escrito sofresse uma metamorfose e lhe desse toda a beleza possível.

Reflexões sobre o corpo e sobre os espaços. Reflexões sobre quem somos e onde somos.

Maravilhoso ❤


--

"Ademais, este corpo é leve, é transparente, é imponderável; nada é menos coisa que ele: corre, age, vive, deseja, deixa-se atravessar sem resistência por todas as minhas intenções. É verdade! Mas somente até ao dia em que adoeço (...) então aí deixo de ser leve, imponderável... Torno-me coisa, arquitetura fantástica e arruinada."

"... a ideia de constituir um espaço de todos os tempos, como se este próprio espaço pudesse estar definitivamente fora do tempo, essa é uma ideia totalmente moderna: o museu e a biblioteca são heterotopias próprias à nossa cultura."

[Rika]

Foucault decía que quería usuarios, no lectores, y ciertamente pienso usarlo en mi tfg.

[Nat Baldino]

Brilliant theory, convoluted execution, but that is mostly likely a failure of transcription from lecture to written word.

I'd also critique Foucault in this instance for failing to consider as heterotopia spaces of sexual deviance based on class, as well as ghettos more generally. Seemed surprising considering how explicitly his theory seems to point toward these spaces.

Would like to put this work in dialogue with Cathy Cohen's "deviance as resistance"

[Kenneth]

A very relevant read, especially in the context of societies in which space is fraught with contesting significations that criss-cross between the political and the cultural (i.e. Singapore). The notion of 'other spaces' is more pervasively performed in our social geography than we care to admit. Stay for the pleasantly enlightening conclusion (hint: it's about ships)!

[Polytimi]

Excellent!

[Rui]

Two interesting new concepts, but both texts are too short to show how can this ideas be of any use to our lives/worldviews.

[Arda]

On power - Foucault this!

[Duha]

i think i understand?

[Emma Ripollés]

Llegir de nou sobre les heterotopies ha sigut retrobar-se en certa manera amb La Ruta. Este cop no només ha sigut entendre la festa com a heterotopia, sino tmb els cementeris, els teatres, els espills… és bonico descobrir que n’hi ha cabuda per a estos móns aparentment tan incompatibles i que esta juxtaposició es pot donar en els espais que recorreguem cada dia.

I més enllà d’este tema, m’ha agradat llegir com este home parla de la història dels espais i de la història del poder com a una única, i com seguint esta tesi l’arquitecte esdevé “el técnic passiu de les estratègies del capital”. També recordar que qualsevol intenció alliberadora que tingui un espai només se pot materialitzar mitjançant “la pràctica real de la gent en l’exercici de la llibertat”.

[Faith Marie]

I’ve read this probably 5 times and only barely understand it but like all of Foucault’s work it’s essential for understanding the spaces of control of bodies, memories, and social structures

[Nicoleta Giurgi]

Idk 😀

[dylan jozkow]

thesis time thesis time thesis time

[Mike]

Hace pensar.

[kylee walt]

wrote an essay on this

[Jackie Roving]

This is a basic yet essential text on spatiality if one is getting into liminal studies, studies of social spaces, etc.

Foucault highlights the importance of space in defining our more contemporary era and how it creates the field of relations, giving things their identity and existence in the world. For something to be a thing, it must have a place in the world, whether a city, a social system, or within the confines of our thoughts.

He also introduces heterotopia as an important dynamic in understanding certain spaces. While the outlining principles might be dated, I find them important in understanding how certain spaces, circuses, cemeteries, churches, and other things have unique functions to them many take for granted.

The only criticism I have of the text is that his concept of time seems incongruent with his concept of space. He seems to think that space and places still hold a notion of the sacred, whereas time is completely empty of sacredness, which I think is wrong coming from a view informed by time studies and time politics.

If we are to accept that a little bit of the sacred is still embedded within space, I find that there exists a similar case of the sacred in time within practices or things we take as given today, like how the first year is based off the birth of Jesus or how many sacred practices are designated to do things within a certain designated part of the day and year (going to church on Saturday/Sunday, religious holidays, etc.) or ways people generate their own notions of the sacred within our desacralized form of time in the form of rituals or parties on special days.

It also seems incongruent with what he says in the middle part of the essay, when he later introduces concepts of heterochronies, where heterotopic spaces break with our traditional notion of time and generate their own notion of deviation from it, especially when it's essential to the existence of that heterotopia itself (i.e., libraries and museums fostering a notion of accumulated time or a festival having a limited notion when it lasts only a design point out of the year).

Sites, a concept he introduces in the essay, are also rationalizing forces that do away with any notion of the sacred. The fact that we can gridmap things; measure them based on acres or units; and use other concepts of space like these we can find shows that modern notions of space remain indifferent or hostile to human meaning. In the same light, there are similar rationalizing technologies and forces that are based around time, like clocks, calendars, etc., that carry out a similar function. These are social systems that don't care for any sacred space or time but instead the ruleset they work off of. A clock for working time doesn't care whether you want to eat or pray as much as a map of a battlefield doesn't care if you want to live or leave. One is forced to individually earn or find fulfillment within their uncaring social systems they cannot individually escape as a result.

Other than that large nitpick, the essay was very enjoyable.

[Otto]

Usei a leitura desse livro como exercício pra estudar francês, lendo o original e traduzindo em um caderno, pra depois confrontar com a tradução em português. Divertido, pois Foucault usa uma linguagem muito simples e acessível para alguém que, como eu, tem como alma mater o Duolingo.

Quanto aos textos, entrei no livro animado para o As Heterotopias, achando que relacionaria muito com o campo da Geografia, mas não me surpreendeu muito. Por outro lado, gostei muito d'O corpo utópico.

E, por último, edição de qualidade muito boa, mas é o que espero da facada publishing house.

[Erica]

«Bisognerebbe forse anche dire che fare l'amore è sentire il proprio corpo richiudersi su di sé, esistere finalmente fuori di ogni utopia, con tutta la propria densità, tra le mani dell'altro. Sotto le dita dell'altro che vi percorrono, tutte le parti invisibili del vostro corpo si mettono a esistere, contro le labbra dell'altro le vostre diventano sensibili, davanti ai suoi occhi semichiusi il vostro volto acquista una certezza: c'è finalmente uno sguardo per vedere le vostre palpebre chiuse. L'amore, anche l'amore, come lo specchio e come la morte, placa l'utopia del vostro corpo, la fa tacere, la calma, l'imprigiona come in una scatola, la chiude e la sigilla. È per questo che l'amore è un parente così stretto dell'illusione dello specchio e della minaccia della morte; e se, nonostante queste due figure pericolose che lo circondano, ci piace tanto fare l'amore, è perché nell'amore il corpo è qui.»

[Gaia]

Bisognerebbe forse anche dire che fare l’amore è sentire il proprio corpo rinchiudersi su di sé, esistere finalmente fuori di ogni utopia, con tutta la propria densità, tra le mani dell’altro. Sotto le dita dell’altro che vi percorrono, tutte le parti invisibili del vostro corpo si mettono a esistere, contro le labbra dell’altro le vostre diventano sensibili, davanti ai suoi occhi semichiusi il vostro volto acquista una certezza: c’è finalmente uno sguardo per vedere le vostre palpebre chiuse.
Anche l’amore, come lo specchio e come la morte, placa l’utopia del vostro corpo, la fa tacere, la calma, la ripone come in una scatola, la chiude e la sigilla. È per questo che l’amore è così vicino all’illusione dello specchio e alla minaccia della morte. E se, nonostante sia circondato da queste due figure pericolose, ci piace tanto fare l’amore, è perché nell’amore il corpo è qui.

[Seamusin]

The idea of the Heterotopia is pretty powerful and useful, but by the beard of Zeus was this a convoluted read. Perhaps it's the translation, perhaps it's because it's transcribed - either way, skip the article, read the fine Wikipedia page and avoid this labyrinthe.

[Stéphanie Andrade]

After reading this essay i didnt really see the point in it, but after reaserching a bit about Foucault i get why he´s saying what he's saying, and made me see the text in another light. Its interesting but i dont think it adds anything to my life

[Lorenzo Galgó]

Super buen libro, corto conciso y asequible, creía conocer menos cosas de las que hablaba pero son conceptos muy ambientales en discusiones actuales sobre historia/ arte contemporáneo, arquitectura o poder, la verdad es una buena herramienta.

[L.]

un saggino adorabile

[K. R. B. Moum]

unbearably interesting!!!