Paul Auster’s 2010 novel, Sunset Park, is set in the flatlands of Florida as
well as the streets of Brooklyn in New York City. It is an emotional reflection on the
ideas of home and homelessness, belonging, loss, death, grief, trauma, guilt, and love,
and how these concepts are defined and reiterated by the transformation of space. The
chapter provides a descriptive analysis of the architectural features of multiple settings
and moves on to a discussion of various significant locations in the novel by
implementing the six principles of the heterotopia by Michel Foucault. While
presenting his principles about heterotopia, Foucault assigns each a specific function.
Heterotopias, according to each of his principles, represent an emotion that
accompanies this function. Miles, the protagonist of the novel, who suffers from the
emotional repercussions of a traumatic loss, joins three young prospective artists in
transforming a building into a temporary living space for themselves. The building is
situated in the Sunset Park neighborhood, where there is a dominance of neo-Renaissance and Romanesque architecture. The neighborhood is known to be a place
where multiple ethnic minorities exist together. The common point of all the characters
who dwell in the house illegally is that they are experiencing a critical transitory period
in their lives.
Keywords: Architecture, Brooklyn, Contemporary american literature, Compensation, Cemetery, Diversity, Economic recession, Estrangement, Foreclosure, Heterotopia, Michel foucault, New york city, Paul auster, Public space, Photography, Space, Setting, Sunset park, Squatting, Trauma.
