Buffalo's captured imaginary: Atmosphere, absurdity and the depoliticized imagination of the Rust Belt
International Journal of Cultural Studies
Published online on April 10, 2026
Abstract
International Journal of Cultural Studies, Ahead of Print.
Using Buffalo, New York, as a key case study, this article examines the cultural grammar through which the American Rust Belt is represented as a site of terminal decline and absurdity. Analyzing films, novels, and memoirs, it argues that a “captured ...
Using Buffalo, New York, as a key case study, this article examines the cultural grammar through which the American Rust Belt is represented as a site of terminal decline and absurdity. Analyzing films, novels, and memoirs, it argues that a “captured ...