Introduction

Abstract

“Cities are magical places, however their magic is not evenly distributed”— writes Chris Jenks in his general introduction to Urban Culture: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies. As much as we agree with Jenks’s words, we believe that cities, first and foremost, are amazing spaces, and this belief finds reflection in the articles gathered in the present volume. The magic of the cities, together with the meandrous urban structure and the journey through the urban landscape are the interweaving aspects discussed in this book. The picture of the city that emerges from the articles contained in Urban Amazement is one of an intricate structure, involving an individual—a traveller, an inhabitant, a writer or a simple observer—into a network of images that is never constant or stable, yet always amazing one with its complexity.