The Obscure Cities, by Schuiten and Peeters: a Topography of Dislocation

Abstract

The Obscure Cities graphic novels cycle, started in 1982 by the Belgian draftsman François Schuiten and the comic’s writer Benoît Peeters, is a prime example of convergence between urban and science fiction. This imaginary world, which falls within the realm of steampunk, reconfigures in their cities a mosaic of different architectural styles of our civilization, rescuing both visionary and utopian dimension. This entry aims to outline a tour of its aesthetic and narrative main keys. More than a “mirror of our present”, what the Obscure Cities cycle arises is an evocation of the positivist and functional ideal that pervades the contemporary urban imaginary. The inrush of the fantastic in this rationalist perspective disrupts the possibilities of harmony and balance, to drag its inhabitants to a dislocation where the wandering condition of the contemporary subject is projected.