A member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
Heard a carol, mournful, holy, Chanted loudly, chanted lowly, Till her blood was frozen slowly, And her eyes were darkened wholly, Turn'd to tower'd Camelot. For ere she reach'd upon the tide The first house by the water-side, Singing in her song she died, The Lady of Shalott.
My Master's Thesis entitled: Gendering Cemeteries in Budapest - completed at Central European University in Budapest - deals with a space which on first observation seems to be the burial culture but in practicality, is the interaction between the living and thier memory. I am continuing my research on the cemetery space in Budapest and hope to publish some articles in the near future. I would be happy to hear any input or answer questions at polyandrium@gmail.com
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What does it mean to be a Social Urbanite?
The study of the Social and Human Geography of any city is a look into the mindset of a populace that often believes itself to be part of a wider global entity. This is often a consequence of living in a space which moves at a rapid pace, this includes the renewal, energy and interaction, which the urban setting exuberates. However, access to common global information, products and imagery does not make for like scenarios. It does not determine how individual cities accept, decode, and apply the message, creating a different formula made up of factors from popular historical facts to popular culture.
During my early childhood, I held the city to be a natural phenomenon, much like the trees, the mountains, or the tulips that grew in the garden. As a child who grew up in the city, and witnessed the constant changes to the physical landscape, many city structures – the new bridges and buildings being built – were the result of "magic", and part of the same vision which brought the tides, the growth of wheat, or the changing seasons. Over the years the destruction, erosion of some structures, and the replacement of others continuously altered the cityscape as well as my vision of the city.
The city of Budapest – much like many other modern cities – represents a human history, a social geography held to be “authentic” and natural that is often unquestioned by the population which connects itself to a history of place and time. A commercially viable city on the exterior, while often restrained and ideologically constructed through the mediation of schools, family and national traditions on the interior.
My fascination and love for the urban social geography has held out throughout my education, from the presentation of
