{"product_id":"atlas-the-archaeology-of-an-imaginary-city","title":"Atlas","description":"Set in the long-lost City of Victoria (a fictional world similar to Hong Kong), Atlas is written from the unified perspective of future archaeologists struggling to rebuild a thrilling metropolis. Divided into four sections-\"Theory,\" \"The City,\" \"Streets,\" and \"Signs\"-the novel reimagines Victoria through maps and other historical documents and artifacts, mixing real-world scenarios with purely imaginary people and events while incorporating anecdotes and actual and fictional social commentary and critique.  Much like the quasi-fictional adventures in map-reading and remapping explored by Paul Auster, Jorge Luis Borges, and Italo Calvino, Dung Kai-cheung's novel challenges the representation of place and history and the limits of technical and scientific media in reconstructing a history. It best exemplifies the author's versatility and experimentation, along with China's rapidly evolving literary culture, by blending fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in a story about succeeding and failing to recapture the things we lose.\nPlaying with a variety of styles and subjects, Dung Kai-cheung inventively engages with the fate of Hong Kong since its British \"handover\" in 1997, which officially marked the end of colonial rule and the beginning of an uncharted future.","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":32029727948883,"sku":"","price":27.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780231161008_83af252e-9741-45af-9171-cac68f7b3213.jpg?v=1769231738","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/atlas-the-archaeology-of-an-imaginary-city","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}