Genoa as Lived and Imagined Social Space in the Work of Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer

Abstract

Drawing on the concepts of ‘superdiversity’ and ‘thirdspace’ this article analyses the work of Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer as a description of a specific Italian city, i.e. Genoa. The main claim is that this in literature evoked city has its unique history and social stratification but is representative as well for the current European space. Literary fiction in its ambiguity and polyphony confronts us with real circumstances, therefore fiction provides social knowledge and can be relevantly used in urban studies.