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The Schillers of the suburbs – creativity and mediated sociality

2010; Routledge; Volume: 17; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10286632.2010.531717

1477-2833

Mark Gibson,

Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research

Abstract Theories around the cultural geography of creativity have given new life, in recent years, to negative perceptions of the suburbs as 'isolated'. These theories have emphasised the importance of 'clusters', 'precincts', 'incubators' and 'hubs', suggesting that even in the era of the Internet, creativity requires an immediacy of social interaction, which can only be found where there is social concentration. The paper brings these theories into question through a long historical perspective on the relation between creativity and 'mediated sociality'. Drawing on the work of Elias, it suggests some surprising parallels between the position of German artists and intellectuals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and suburban creative practitioners today. The former were in many respects 'isolated', relatively dependent on mediated sociality, and yet they produced a major historical flowering of creative activity. The example prompts us to think more sympathetically and optimistically about the creative potential of contemporary suburbia. Keywords: suburbscreative industriesNorbert Eliasromanticismmediated sociality Notes 1. The project has been supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery grant 'Creative suburbia: A critical evaluation of the scope for creative cultural development in Australia's suburban and peri‐urban communities'. Thanks for their input into this paper to my co‐researchers Terry Flew, Christy Collis, Phil Graham, Anna Daniel and Emma Felton. 2. Thanks to Andy Pratt for suggesting this point. 3. It should perhaps be noted, as Hunter mentions him, that Leibniz is a more complex case than Wolff or Kant as he did gain a position as a courtier to the House of Brunswick at Hanover. This was, however, an exception. The only other major figure who came close was Goethe, who, as Elias notes, achieved a 'kind of elevation' to the court at Weimar (Elias Citation2000, p. 20). 4. The sketch can be viewed on the Monty Python Channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buqtdpuZxvk), with a link for those who may wish to purchase the film on iTunes. In 2006, Idle appeared, with Spamalot collaborator Mike Nichols, at position 98 on Forbes wealthiest 'Celebrity 100', with annual earnings estimated at US$9 million (http://www.forbes.com/2006/06/12/06celebrities_money-power-celebrities-list_land.html). On the business value of the wider Python franchise, see Frean (Citation2009). 5. In the introduction to the English translation, Bourdieu acknowledges Elias as an influence here (Bourdieu Citation1984, p. xi). 6. In just over a decade from its release in 1996, Pokémon sold 193 million units of the video game alone (Graft Citation2009). This does not begin to account for the television programmes, movies, trading cards, toys, clothing and other branded items which, collectively, would have to make it one of the most commercially successful 'suburban' cultural products of all time. I have written on the phenomenon previously in Gibson (Citation2002).