Poetic Resurrection: The Bronx in American Popular Culture

While in the late 1970s many Americans dismissed the cultural potential of the Bronx by claiming that "The Bronx is burning," this study challenges that assumption. This first-ever study on The Bronx in American popular culture shows how a wide variety of cultural representations engaged in a complex dialogue on its past, present, and future. Sina Nitzsche argues that popular culture functioned as a poetic resurrection of The Bronx, an artistic and imaginative rebirth, which preceded, promoted, and facilitated the spatial revival of the borough. This poetic resurrection inspired the artistic rebirth of distressed communities across the US until today.