Bachelard’s House Revisited: Toward a New Poetics of Space

Abstract

In this article, I want to reassess Bachelard’s “topoanalysis,” a concept the French philosopher introduced in his La poétique de l’espace (1957). We will look into some of the ideological and theoretical problems that inevitably rise if one wants to use Bachelard’s topoanalysis today. I want to argue that these difficulties are far from insuperable and that an alternative approach to Bachelard’s legacy is still possible and worthwhile. If we consider Bachelard’s exploration of the images of dwelling as a variant of what Jerome McGann coined “deformative criticism,” Bachelard’s project can still be used as a relevant methodological instrument for a critical analysis of the imaginary of interior spaces.