CHANGING MODERNITY: RELIGION AND THE HIGH-RISE AS MARKERS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY IN WORKS BY DICKENS AND DOS PASSOS
CHANGING MODERNITY: RELIGION AND THE HIGH-RISE AS MARKERS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY IN WORKS BY DICKENS AND DOS PASSOS

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores the changing functionality of religious buildings such as the cathedral and the church at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century in works by Dickens and Dos Passos set in London and New York respectively, as well as the rise of the skyscraper in Dos Passos's portrayal of New York. The imposing architecture and intrinsic symbolism of the former allow an exploration of the evolving signification of their represented spaces in teh works of the two writers while the ubiquitous presence of the latter in Dos Passos's New York underscores teh significance of its absence in Dickens's London. The representations of these architectural landmarks are viewed as instrumental in reconstructing the city inhabitants' identity in the transition from the 19th century modernity to 20th century modernism analyzed here by close reading of selected passages against critical works on the city by urbanists such as Mumford and Wright. A modernist view on London's cathedrals is provided by juxtaposing passages from Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway.

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