City and Identity in Postmodern and Metamodern Textual Architectures
Keywords:
city, identity, postmodernism, metamodernism, textual architecture
Abstract
This article focuses on the intersection of literature and architecture. The first section analyzes J. G. Ballard’s High-Rise (1975) and Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities (1972)—postmodern narratives of collapse that obliterate the real–the unreal boundary and where identities dissolve under the influence of compressed and elusive cities. The second section demonstrates how John Trefry’s experimental novel Massive (2024) enacts a passage to a metamodern modality in the context of cities, as it links temporalities and emphasizes an ethical concern. To this end, it utilizes digitality to repurpose postmodern fragmentation and advocates for the reader’s participation in the text’s meaning-making. The article argues that the metamodern novel’s conceptualization of the city complexifies its textual architecture and the process of identity formation.
References
Ballard, J. G. (1977). High-Rise. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Barthes, R. (1997). Semiology and the Urban. In N. Leach (Ed.), Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory (pp. 158–164). London and New York: Routledge.
Benjamin, W. (1997). Baudelaire, or the Streets of Paris. In N. Leach (Ed.), Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory (pp. 36–37). London and New York: Routledge.
Calvino, I. (1974). Invisible Cities (W. Weaver, Trans.). San Diego and New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Corrao, M. (2020, October 5). Pre-Articulation: On John Trefry’s Unfinished Massive | Part 1. ActionBooks. Retrieved from: https://actionbooks.org/2020/10/pre-articulation-on-john-trefrys-unfinished-massive-part-1-by-mike-corrao/ (5/12/2025)
Danilova, E., & Bakshutova, D. (2021). Metamodernism: The Phenomenon of Memory as Part of an Architectural Concept. DOI: 10.2991/assehr.k.211125.162.
Davies, J. (2017). Transition, abstraction and perverse concreteness in J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise. Textual Practice, pp. 1–21. DOI: 10.1080/0950236X.2017.1301546.
de Certeau, M. (1988). The Practice of Everyday Life (S. Rendall, Trans.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Dember, G. (2024). Say Hello to Metamodernism! Boise, ID: Exact Rush Publishing.
Dumitrescu, A. (2016, December 4). What is Metamodernism and Why Bother? Meditations on Metamodernism as a Period Term and as a Mode. Electronic Book Review. Retrieved from: https://electronicbookreview.com/essay/what-is-metamodernism-and-why-bother-meditations-on-metamodernism-as-a-period-term-and-as-a-mode/
Duff, K. (2014). Contemporary British Literature and Urban Space: After Thatcher. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Edwards, S. (2012). Anonymous encounters: the structuring of space in postmodern narratives of the city. In S. Edwards & J. Charley (Eds.), Writing the Modern City: Literature, Architecture, Modernity (pp. 167–177). London and New York: Routledge.
Gibbons, A. (2017). Metamodern Affect. In R. van den Akker, A. Gibbons, & T. Vermeulen (Eds.), Metamodernism: Historicity, Affect, and Depth After Postmodernism (pp. 83–86). London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Hallila, M., & Sandbacka, K. (2024). Metamodernism in Contemporary Culture and Literature. Acta Philologica, 63, 5–11. https://doi.org/10.7311/ACTA.63.2025.1
Harvey, D. (1990). The Condition of Postmodernity. Cambridge, MA and Oxford, UK.
Harvey, D. (1996). Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Hayles, N. K., & Gannon, T. (2007). Mood Swings: The Aesthetics of Ambient Emergence. In N. Brooks & J. Toth (Eds.), The Mourning After: Attending the Wake of Postmodernism (pp. 99–142). Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi.
Jameson, F. (1991). Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham: Duke University Press.
Jordan, S. (2024). Metamodernism and the Postdigital in the Contemporary Novel. London: Bloomsbury.
Marraccini, A. V. (2024, November 20). Goldfinch/Refusal: Mandelstam, Massive, and Form of the Novel in the Age of Atrocity. Minor Literature[s]. Retrieved from: https://minorliteratures.com/2024/11/20/goldfinch-refusal-mandelstam-massive-and-form-of-the-novel-in-the-age-of-atrocity-a-v-marraccini/ (5/12/2025)
Panigrahi, S. (2017). Postmodern Temporality in Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities.” Italica, 94(1), 82–100. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/44504640
Trefry, J. (2024). Massive. Lawrence, KS: Inside the Castle.
Trefry, J., & Corrao, M. (2024, March 14). On the Inertness of Books — A conversation with John Trefry & Mike Corrao. Minor Literature[s]. Retrieved from: https://minorliteratures.com/2024/03/14/on-the-inertness-of-books-a-conversation-with-john-trefry-mike-corrao/ (5/12/2025)
Vermeulen, T., & van den Akker, R. (2010). Notes on Metamodernism. Journal of Aesthetics & Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.3402/jac.v2i0.5677
Barthes, R. (1997). Semiology and the Urban. In N. Leach (Ed.), Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory (pp. 158–164). London and New York: Routledge.
Benjamin, W. (1997). Baudelaire, or the Streets of Paris. In N. Leach (Ed.), Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory (pp. 36–37). London and New York: Routledge.
Calvino, I. (1974). Invisible Cities (W. Weaver, Trans.). San Diego and New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Corrao, M. (2020, October 5). Pre-Articulation: On John Trefry’s Unfinished Massive | Part 1. ActionBooks. Retrieved from: https://actionbooks.org/2020/10/pre-articulation-on-john-trefrys-unfinished-massive-part-1-by-mike-corrao/ (5/12/2025)
Danilova, E., & Bakshutova, D. (2021). Metamodernism: The Phenomenon of Memory as Part of an Architectural Concept. DOI: 10.2991/assehr.k.211125.162.
Davies, J. (2017). Transition, abstraction and perverse concreteness in J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise. Textual Practice, pp. 1–21. DOI: 10.1080/0950236X.2017.1301546.
de Certeau, M. (1988). The Practice of Everyday Life (S. Rendall, Trans.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Dember, G. (2024). Say Hello to Metamodernism! Boise, ID: Exact Rush Publishing.
Dumitrescu, A. (2016, December 4). What is Metamodernism and Why Bother? Meditations on Metamodernism as a Period Term and as a Mode. Electronic Book Review. Retrieved from: https://electronicbookreview.com/essay/what-is-metamodernism-and-why-bother-meditations-on-metamodernism-as-a-period-term-and-as-a-mode/
Duff, K. (2014). Contemporary British Literature and Urban Space: After Thatcher. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Edwards, S. (2012). Anonymous encounters: the structuring of space in postmodern narratives of the city. In S. Edwards & J. Charley (Eds.), Writing the Modern City: Literature, Architecture, Modernity (pp. 167–177). London and New York: Routledge.
Gibbons, A. (2017). Metamodern Affect. In R. van den Akker, A. Gibbons, & T. Vermeulen (Eds.), Metamodernism: Historicity, Affect, and Depth After Postmodernism (pp. 83–86). London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Hallila, M., & Sandbacka, K. (2024). Metamodernism in Contemporary Culture and Literature. Acta Philologica, 63, 5–11. https://doi.org/10.7311/ACTA.63.2025.1
Harvey, D. (1990). The Condition of Postmodernity. Cambridge, MA and Oxford, UK.
Harvey, D. (1996). Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Hayles, N. K., & Gannon, T. (2007). Mood Swings: The Aesthetics of Ambient Emergence. In N. Brooks & J. Toth (Eds.), The Mourning After: Attending the Wake of Postmodernism (pp. 99–142). Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi.
Jameson, F. (1991). Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham: Duke University Press.
Jordan, S. (2024). Metamodernism and the Postdigital in the Contemporary Novel. London: Bloomsbury.
Marraccini, A. V. (2024, November 20). Goldfinch/Refusal: Mandelstam, Massive, and Form of the Novel in the Age of Atrocity. Minor Literature[s]. Retrieved from: https://minorliteratures.com/2024/11/20/goldfinch-refusal-mandelstam-massive-and-form-of-the-novel-in-the-age-of-atrocity-a-v-marraccini/ (5/12/2025)
Panigrahi, S. (2017). Postmodern Temporality in Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities.” Italica, 94(1), 82–100. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/44504640
Trefry, J. (2024). Massive. Lawrence, KS: Inside the Castle.
Trefry, J., & Corrao, M. (2024, March 14). On the Inertness of Books — A conversation with John Trefry & Mike Corrao. Minor Literature[s]. Retrieved from: https://minorliteratures.com/2024/03/14/on-the-inertness-of-books-a-conversation-with-john-trefry-mike-corrao/ (5/12/2025)
Vermeulen, T., & van den Akker, R. (2010). Notes on Metamodernism. Journal of Aesthetics & Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.3402/jac.v2i0.5677
Published
2026-06-30
How to Cite
[1]
Naporowski, M. 2026. City and Identity in Postmodern and Metamodern Textual Architectures. Perspectives on Culture. 53, 2 (Jun. 2026), 93-104.
Section
Movement(s) and Identity
Copyright (c) 2026 Perspectives on Culture
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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