In 1959, T. S. Eliot said of his poetry, “My urban imagery was that of St. Louis.” This paper reads Eliot's The Waste Land in light of this comment, investigating the extent to which the construction of his hometown, St. Louis, in the nineteenth century, impinges upon the poem. The paper outlines the cultural conditions of St. Louis's construction as part of a settler colonial project, heavily influenced by certain narratives of quest and conquest. Throughout the construction of St. Louis, geographical and historical realities were continually replaced by an urban landscape which served to reflect these settler narratives. Using three separate case studies – the construction of the Eads Bridge, the destruction of the Cahokia mounds, and the St. Louis fire of 1849 – this paper makes the case that Eliot's characterization of urban space in The Waste Land as “unreal” is rooted in the construction of his hometown.

中文翻译：

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建造一个虚幻的城市：阅读艾略特《荒原》中圣路易斯的建设

1959 年，TS Eliot 谈到他的诗歌时说：“我的城市意象是圣路易斯的。” 这篇论文阅读了艾略特的荒地鉴于此评论，调查他的家乡圣路易斯在 19 世纪的建设对这首诗的影响程度。该文件概述了作为定居者殖民项目一部分的圣路易斯建筑的文化条件，深受某些关于探索和征服的叙述的影响。在圣路易斯的整个建设过程中，地理和历史现实不断被城市景观所取代，这些景观反映了这些定居者的叙述。使用三个独立的案例研究——Eads 桥的建造、Cahokia 土丘的破坏和 1849 年的圣路易斯大火——本文证明了艾略特对城市空间的描述荒地因为“虚幻”植根于家乡的建设。