The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of MemoryLos Angeles is a city which has long thrived on the continual re-creation of own myth. In this highly original work, Norman Klein examines the process of memory erasure in the city. Using a distinctive mixture of fact and fiction, Klein takes us on an "anti-tour" of downtown LA. He investigates the life for Vietnamese immigrants in the City of Dreams, playfully imagines Walter Benjamin as a Los Angeleno, and looks at the way information technology has recreated the city, turning cyberspace into the last suburb. We observe the close up demolition of neighbourhoods by urban planners, TV's misrepresentation of the Rodney King uprising in1992, the effect on public consciousness of earthquakes, fires and racial panic, and the way in which crime novels make LA slums seem like abandoned cities in the Central American jungle. |
Other editions - View all
The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory Norman M. Klein Limited preview - 2020 |
The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory Norman M. Klein Limited preview - 1997 |
The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory Norman M. Klein Limited preview - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
American Angelino Heights Anglo asked became Binh Blade Runner blocks boosterism buildings built Bunker Hill called cent Chavez Ravine Chinatown Chinese clearly cops crime crime films culture decay described district Echo Park eighties erased erasure Escape from L.A. fantasy fiction fifties film finally fire forgetting forties freeway Harbor Freeway Hollywood houses Ibid imagine immigration industri-opolis industry inside interviews LAPD late light lived look memory Mexican Mike Davis miles movie murder myth Nathanael West neighborhood never night noir novel Olvera Street orig particularly Plaza police political Postmodernism Press problem real-estate remember residents Riots Santa seemed shot simply sixties slums smog social imaginary Southern California Spring Street story Sunset Boulevard Temple-Beaudry thirties tourist town twenties Victorian Vietnam Vietnamese watch west of downtown window writing York