Space, Subjectivity, and Language in William Blake's Jerusalem and Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater

Abstract

This thesis utilizes the theories of spatial production and practice laid out by Michel de Certeau and Henri Lefebvre to produce a reading of William Blake's Jerusalem and Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater. This thesis focuses on the production of space throught regulated and deviant spatial practices--in particular, linguistic practices--and explores ways in which regulated practices re-inscribe ideologies and limit possibilities for change. Deviant practices, the use and re-appropriation of regulated spatial practice, might, however, produce opportunities for regeneration. Blake's Los and De Quincey's opium eater are explored as walkers and trespassers who make use of language and spatial practices to create detours, disruptions, and digressions in territorialized places and territorializing ideologies. Through their trangressive walks, both Los and De Quincey's character problematize essential definitions of subjectivity and space, and open new possibilities for experience and performance.