PGS Literary Society: 'Heterotopia'

 by Marinela P

Michel Foucault

What is meant by Heterotopia? Derived from the Greek terms ‘Heteros’ meaning other and ‘topias’ meaning place, the term was first coined by Foucault in The Order of Other Things’ . Foucault used the term heterotopia to describe places which can be ‘characterised’ as ‘other places’ which can both mirror and invert the world around them. In summary a heterotopia is a world within a world. 

In order to fully understand the meaning of a heterotopia it is necessary to understand Foucault's understanding of a utopia. The thought of a utopia came through Thomas More - in his book ‘utopia’ , where utopia is the name of an Island where More describes a perfect and self contained island, where there is no acrimony between the inhabitants. 

Foucault’s description of a utopia differs, where a utopia is a ‘placeless place’, because of its imaginary nature. Heterotopias on the other hand describe places which are real, and contain all elements of society that are not ideal-posing a threat to utopian ideals. For example, crime would pose a threat to utopian ideals, however crime would exist in a heterotopia. Foucault mentions several different types of heterotopias, for example: prisons or nursing homes and ambiguous spaces such as gardens, theatres, and cemeteries. 

Now you may be beginning to think what could link a prison, a garden and a theatre? Well in order for a venue or space to be a heterotopia, it must meet a criteria that Foucault set out. Whilst I go through the principles of a heterotopia, I’d like you to think how a novel could be classed as a heterotopia. 

The First Principle: we must decide whether it is a crisis heterotopia or a heterotopia of deviation. A crisis heterotopia is the earliest form of a heterotopia and could be found in primitive societies. They are sites which can be seen as sacred. Foucault noted that they “ are reserved for individuals who are, in relation to society and to the human environment in which they live in, in a state of crisis’. Crisis Heterotopias may include military schools for young men where coming of age occurs out of sight. Our other form of Heterotopia is the Heterotopia of deviation. These are heterotopias in which individuals are contained because their behaviour is in deviation from the norm. This includes nursing homes, prisons, psychiatric hospitals. These are venues where any behaviour which is not constituted as being ‘normal’ by society are contained and managed. 

Second Principle: The function of a heterotopia can change, it is not fixed. Foucault notes that heterotopias change over history, they change based on the cultural and scientific beliefs of society changing as well as technological progress. Foucault gives the example of a cemetery, during the 18th century cemeteries where at the heart of the city, by the end of the 19th century, they had been moved to the outskirts of cities because of concerns of diseases spreading due to proximity to the deceased. 

Third Principle: Heterotopias can contain multiple spaces within them. A singular heterotopia can include several different spaces that may seem to be incompatible. The analogy of a garden illustrates this: a traditional Persian garden was sacred , with four walls representing the four parts of the world, the different vegetation and ornaments in a garden were combined to represent spaces outside of a garden. 

Fourth Principle: Heterotopias are referred to as ‘slices in time’ or ‘heterochronies’. Again there are forms of heterotopia which interrupt our traditional sense of time: these are heterotopias of accumulation and of festivity. Heterotopias of accumulation are: libraries and museums - they are collections of objects and information of different time periods making them protected by time. The preservation of these items allows for a link between the past and present/ Heterotopias of festivity: these are places that only exist for a short while. An example of this is a travelling fair because of their temporary and transient nature. Other periods of festivity can further transform a space temporarily, such as a christmas market. 

The Fifth Principle is that heterotopias require ways to isolate them as well as allowing them to be penetrable. Heterotopic sites cannot be accessed freely - entry into a prison requires having committed a crime. 

The Sixth Principle: Heterotopias both expose and mirror real places - they do this through illusions or a space of compensation. An illusion of a heterotopia is the 19th century brothel. It is an illusion because of the artifice and performance which is required. A heterotopia of compensation is a space where order is created in order to compensate for disorder. An example of this is the Jesuit colonies of South America, where the village was meticulously controlled to compensate for a lack of order with society. 

Heterotopias Within Literature: From this it can easily be argued that literature can be read as heterotopic. Kafka’s The Trial is an example of a heterotopia within literature. Literature can be argued to be the highest form of heterotopia worlds are created that can be perceived to be real - however in order to fully understand a piece of literature of being heterotopic, there must be an acceptance that the boundary between life and literature is porous. We must see something that we recognise within literature to connect with it. The diffusion of facts between literature and real life allies for heterotopias in books to be created. I would argue that every book is a heterotopia. Books have a nature of being transient, we read them, we are absorbed in the world created by the author and then they leave us, we may remember and look back on them, reread but they are temporary in nature. 

Examples of heterotopias in literature. The city of Verona in Romeo and Juliet: The city is Shakespeare's microcosm for vengeance and feuds in the wider world as well as reconciliation and romance, when watching Romeo and Juliet your are confined in the city of Verona, and from a 21st century perspective we a transported in time. From a more modern perspective: Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone - Hogwarts is a heterotopia and institution that has the semblance of a school, however is entirely transformed. 

Heterotopias are perhaps most evident in dystopian fiction - where elements of the real world exist - however society is transformed. Here are few personal favourite pieces of dystopian literature: -The Power. -The Handmaid's Tale -Children of Men. Parts of society remain recognisable, but despite this we are transported to a completely different world. 

So each time you engage with fiction, you are entering within a heterotopia - this idea further extends to plays - when you enter a theatre you are in a constructed and transient world. Watching a film is similar in nature, when watching the movie we are transported again to a different venue that has been created. Heterotopias are relevant in life, it is important to recognise the worlds within worlds that we live in and to understand how we interact with these heterotopias but as well, how these heterotopias affect us. Heterotopias in literature I find the most fascinating of all: places are created and made easily accessible to all.