3059-11578-1-PB.pdf (583.13 kB)
Foucault, Borges, heterotopia: producing knowledge in other spaces
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 03:00 authored by Robert TopinkaArguably the most famous heterotopia that appears in Foucault’s work is the Chinese encyclopedia, which originates in the fiction of Jorge Luis Borges. Drawing on this citation of Borges, this article examines Foucault’s notion of the heterotopia as it relates to order and knowledge production. Frequently, heterotopias are understood as sites of resistance. This article argues that shifting the focus from resistance to order and knowledge production reveals how heterotopias make the spatiality of order legible. By juxtaposing and combining many spaces in one site, heterotopias problematize received knowledge by destabilizing the ground on which knowledge is built. Yet heterotopias always remain connected to the dominant order; thus as heterotopias clash with dominant orders, they simultaneously produce new ways of knowing. This article first explores the tensions between Foucault’s two definitions of heterotopias before connecting these definitions to Foucault’s distinctly spatial understanding of knowledge as emerging from a clash of forces. Finally, the paper ends by returning to the relationship between Foucault, Borges, and heterotopias.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Foucault StudiesISSN
1832-5203Publisher
Queensland University of TechnologyVolume
9Page range
54-70Department affiliated with
- Music Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2016-09-27First Open Access (FOA) Date
2016-09-27First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2016-09-27Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC