Publisher's Synopsis
The first part of the book, a study of Thomas More's "Utopia", provides the elements for a theoretical reflection on utopic signifying practices. The second part is an application of the first: an analysis of utopic and pseudo-utopic spaces. The author's thesis operates on three levels. The first is of a "categorical" or conceptual nature. The second is "schematic" or imaginary: utopic discourse "works" as a schema of the imagination, as a "textual" figure. And the third, "aesthetic" or perceptive level develops the utopic scheme as engendering spaces, all within the most rigid coherence of a totalizing discourse. These three levels are explored in terms of a double methodological preoccupation, both structural and historical.
