PSYCHOANALYSIS, LIMINALITY, AND OPTICAL ABERRATION: A REPORT ON THE POSTMODERN URBAN CONDITION

Abstract

I define intellectual urbanite as a person that exists on the margins of two societies. In this project, I will empty the term "urbanite" of its chic cultural value and use it to refer to a member of society who lives in the inner city and is subjected to multifarious racial, economic, and/or cultural forces perpetuated by controlling ideologies. The intellectual urbanite is marginalized by mainstream culture due to physical location, lack of wealth, racialization, racialized discourses, or any combination of these factors. Intellectual urbanites are also exiled to the margins of their own culture as those who act in ways other than what is coded for them within their home communities. This project will explore the postmodern psychological condition of the intellectual urbanite and suggest a means by which intellectual urbanites can differentiate themselves as nomadic thinkers rather than (re)productions of ideological domination.