Space Construction as Cultural Practice: Reading William Gibson’s Neuromancer with Respect to Postmodern Concepts of Space
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In Neuromancer (1984), William Gibson elaborated a principal model of cyberspace and thus has contributed to the formation, establishment, and acceptance of the cultural concept of the electronic, virtual space. This essay will shed light on how Michel Foucault’s heterotopology and Michel de Certeau’s spatial practices can serve as models for an analysis of the peculiar aesthetic construction of Gibson’s superimposing spatial concept. The fictitious worlds of Neuromancer raise questions of identity, authenticity, and the possible functionality of the depicted places/spaces. In dealing with these issues, the essay positions illusion and compensation alongside movement as pillars of the novel.