IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v55y2018i9p2057-2072.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The spatial stereotype: The representation and reception of urban films in Johannesburg

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandra Parker

Abstract

Stereotypes are people or things categorised by general characteristics of the group based on a truth that is widely recognised and function to reduce ideas to a simpler form (Dyer, 1993). Not all stereotypes are pejorative but can be a form of othering of people (Bhabha, 1996) and come about through a friction with difference (Jameson, 1995). In Johannesburg, South Africa, there is a conflation of people and space that results in a form of spatial categorisation or stereotyping. Under the apartheid government the city’s spaces were divided by race and ethnicity and are currently shifting towards divisions of class and inequality deepening the fragmented post-apartheid conditions in the city. These spatial categories have been represented in films of Johannesburg and contribute to the construction of the city’s image but also construct images for particular neighbourhoods. In this paper I examine the use of space in film as a narrative device and explore the reception and understanding of Johannesburg’s spaces by its residents to illustrate the construction and reception of spatial stereotypes. The paper discusses three dominant spatial stereotypes of Johannesburg through key films and the reception of these films through quantitative and qualitative interviews conducted with residents in four locations (Chiawelo; CBD; Fordsburg and Melville) in Johannesburg. Stereotypes have negative consequences and these spatial stereotypes reflect the ‘city of extremes’ (Murray, 2011) but their use indicates a process of navigation and negotiation across differences in space and identity in the fragmented city of Johannesburg.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandra Parker, 2018. "The spatial stereotype: The representation and reception of urban films in Johannesburg," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(9), pages 2057-2072, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:55:y:2018:i:9:p:2057-2072
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098017706885
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098017706885
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098017706885?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Loïc J. D. Wacquant, 1997. "Three Pernicious Premises in the Study of the American Ghetto," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 341-353, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Karien Dekker & Gideon Bolt, 2005. "Social Cohesion in Post-war Estates in the Netherlands: Differences between Socioeconomic and Ethnic Groups," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(13), pages 2447-2470, December.
    2. Peer Smets & Ton Salman, 2008. "Countering Urban Segregation: Theoretical and Policy Innovations from around the Globe," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(7), pages 1307-1332, June.
    3. Laura Huey & Thomas Kemple, 2007. "`Let the Streets Take Care of Themselves': Making Sociological and Common Sense of `Skid Row'," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(12), pages 2305-2319, November.
    4. Jeff R. Crump, 2003. "The end of public housing as we know it: public housing policy, labor regulation and the US city," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 179-187, March.
    5. James Jennings, 2004. "Urban Planning, Community Participation, and the Roxbury Master Plan in Boston," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 594(1), pages 12-33, July.
    6. Sylvie Fol & Gabriel Dupuy & Olivier Coutard, 2007. "Transport Policy and the Car Divide in the UK, the US and France: Beyond the Environmental Debate," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 802-818, December.
    7. Alves Kalil, Fátima & Franco, Creso & Ribeiro, Luiz Cesar Queiroz, 2008. "Urban segregation and school backwardness in Rio de Janeiro," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    8. Thomas Maloutas, 2007. "Segregation, Social Polarization and Immigration in Athens during the 1990s: Theoretical Expectations and Contextual Difference," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 733-758, December.
    9. Martine August, 2014. "Negotiating Social Mix in Toronto's First Public Housing Redevelopment: Power, Space and Social Control in Don Mount Court," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1160-1180, July.
    10. Juliette Galonnier, 2015. "The Enclave, The Citadel and the Ghetto: The Threefold Segregation of Upper-Class Muslims in India," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 92-111, January.
    11. Paul Watt, 2003. "Urban Marginality and Labour Market Restructuring: Local Authority Tenants and Employment in an Inner London Borough," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(9), pages 1769-1789, August.
    12. Nathan Edward Fosse, 2010. "The Repertoire of Infidelity among Low-Income Men: Doubt, Duty, and Destiny," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 629(1), pages 125-143, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:55:y:2018:i:9:p:2057-2072. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.