Abstract:
This thesis examines representations of city-labyrinths as they are portrayed in City of Glass by Paul Auster and Biritus madīna taḥta al-arḍ [Biritus a City Underground] by Rabī’ Jābir. Although an ancient structure, the labyrinth is an intricate space which often functions as an ‘other’ reality in the world today; it comes to represent and contain the marginal individuals and collectives in society. Slums, ghettos, refugee camps, and subway stations are made up of mazy, labyrinthine networks. These intricate spaces are difficult to map, for the users of these space often defy the space’s intended function. As a space, the labyrinth meets the six principles of heterotopias outlined by Michel Foucault in his lecture entitled “Of Other Spaces.” Thus, the labyrinth can be described as a heterotopic space. Such spaces are often characterized by difference and deviation. A prison, which Foucault identifies as a heterotopia, is a labyrinth to the guard who is unfamiliar with the internal codes and rules known to the prisoners. The labyrinth has a distinct spatial and temporal order that is perceived as a disorder by the lost walker. In City of Glass, the protagonist uncovers a new order that manifests itself in the form of an invented language. As he attempts to interpret this language, he realizes the impossibility of escaping this labyrinth. The interpretations yield limitless possibilities that are never confirmed. In Biritus, the new order manifests itself through a fictitious subterranean city-labyrinth existing beneath modern-day Beirut. Unable to comprehend the order of this labyrinth, the protagonist realizes that he must escape the labyrinth or remain wedged in the past. Furthermore, the labyrinth challenges the protagonists’ notions of time. The temporal order of the labyrinth is characterized by a backwards movement in time; the protagonists can only move forward in the labyrinth by moving backwards first. The walker discovers that the physical city-labyrinth is only a tangible manifestation of the labyrinth within; the journey through the labyrinth is, thus, transformed into an internal one.
