Paris Dreams, Paris Memories

How did Paris become what it is today? Charles Rearick argues that we can best find the answer by understanding Paris as several cities in one, each with its own history and its own imaginary shaped by dream and memory. Paris has long been at once a cosmopolitan City of Light and of modernity, a patchwork of time-resistant urban "villages," a treasured heirloom ("old Paris"), a crowded and dirty hell without opportunities for the downtrodden, and a legendary pleasure dome. These different faces of Paris have all played a part in making the enchanting, beloved, flawed city of our time. In order to make contemporary Paris understandable, Paris Dreams, Paris Memoriesfocuses in on the last century and a half. It tells of urban renewal projects radically transforming neighborhoods, and recounts measures taken to perpetuate the city's historic character and soul. It provides a historically grounded look at the troubled suburbs, barren of monuments and memories, a refuge and dumping ground for the city's surplus or unwanted people and industries. Further, it tests long-standing characterizations of Paris's uniqueness through comparisons with its historic rivals, London and Berlin. Paris Dreams, Paris Memoriesreveals that, more than is commonly recognized, Paris's contemporary buildings, monuments, public festivities, and cultural events have been created following historical imaginations of the city.