A New Rome? The Ruins of London as a Tourist Attraction of the Future

<strong>CENTRE FOR MEDIA STUDIES School Of Social Sciences</strong> a Public lecture by <strong>Prof. Christoph Heyl </strong> on <strong>A New Rome? The Ruins of London as a Tourist Attraction of the Future</strong> <strong>DATE: 26 February, 2015</strong> <strong>Abstract :</strong> During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, London was regarded as the modern Rome, as the political and cultural centre of an immense empire. However, Rome's greatness did not last, and the Roman empire eventually collapsed. Given the assumed parallel between London and Rome, it appeared more than likely that the British empire, and with it its capital, would also decline and fall. This prospect was scary and fascinating at the same time. Londoners began to worry about what would eventually remain of their metropolis and the civilisation it stood for. Authors, artists and architects came up with amusing and astonishing scenarios involving the physical remains of London in a distant future. In many cases, a post-colonial perspective on London was anticipated. In this talk, some of these scenarios – including a number of paintings and prints – will be discussed <strong>About the speaker :</strong> Prof. Christoph Heyl studied English and History at the Universities of Frankfurt (Germany) and Reading (England). He then spent several years in London where he was affiliated to the German Historical Institute. He taught Humboldt University (Berlin) and a number of other German universities before he was appointed to the Chair of British Literature and Culture at the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2011. Christoph Heyl is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He has published on literature, art and everyday life in eighteenth-century London, collectors and collections in the seventeenth century, crime and crime fiction, literature and the senses of smell and hearing, the future ruins of London and music in the eighteenth century (from Scottish bagpipe music to Händel's oratorios). In 2013, he published an interdisciplinary handbook of urban studies (as co-author and editor). He is currently working on a study on emigrants and refugees in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century London (in literature and cultural history).