18th Annual Student Research Conference
Language & Literature
Urban Image, Urban Empires:
The Decline of Individual City Identity and the Experience of International Urban Identity
Maggie E. Mayhan
Dr. Bob Mielke, Faculty Mentor
This paper explores the articulation and propagation of urban image, examining it as a deterritorialized agent that demands its own space, that transcends national boundaries. In particular, this paper examines the presence of the Gap Inc. store on the Champs-Elysées in Paris and the presentation of Gap Inc. image and of Gap Inc. space—both its interior space and how it operates on the Champs-Elysées in relation to the other artifacts of the street. How does Gap Inc. define and sell its image? How does it participate in the decline of individual city identity and privilege the experience of an urban-image identity? The image is its own intoxicating reality that frames our experience of our urban empires.
Keywords: image, Gap Inc., Paris, urban space, identity, advertising, Champs-Elysées
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 21-1
Location: VH 1320
Time: 9:45