“A Walk in Between”—On Hart Crane’s Imagination of Representational Space and Representations of Space in The Bridge

Abstract

In this paper, Henri Lefebvre's theorizations about representational space and representations of space will be employed to examine Hart Crane's imagination of them in The Bridge. First, according to Lefebvre, representations of space are created with violence for the purpose of accumulating capital. On the other hand, representational space is directly lived or affectively felt, opened up by inhabitants' imagination. In addition, Lefebvre points out that in abstract space, representational space will be invaded by representations of space. In The Bridge, Crane's affective experience with the Brooklyn Bridge or the subway indicates that he treats New York as a representational space. Besides, Crane expresses his concern for how capitalism has encroached on it. It would seem that Crane has followed Lefebvre's line of thinking in The Bridge. However, it is actually a specious analysis because both the Brooklyn Bridge and the subway are representations of space. And in this long poem, Crane feels the urban space through history, which plays a key role in creating representations of space. Thus, we can conclude that Crane is actually taking "a walk in between" in The Bridge. With his imagination, Crane has combined representations of space and representational space into his own poetic vision.Keywords: (Henri) Lefebvre, representations of space, representational space, (Hart) Crane, The Bridge Urban design … is structurally produced out of the basic contradiction between capitalist social and property relations (and their specifically urban manifestations) and the concomitant necessity for collective action.-J. Scott and S. T. Roweis "Urban Planning in Theory and Practice: A Reappraisal" (1997) [The Brooklyn Bridge is] the first suspension bridge to use steel-wire cables and one of the first to use pneumatic caissons for foundations… The bridge was designated as a national historic landmark by the United States Department of the Interior in 1964.-"Brooklyn Bridge"