Towards Forsterian Mobilities through Public Transport as Public Space

Abstract

Writings of place experience contribute to mobility studies by casting light on individual perspectives and the shaping of memory by art. E.M. Forster had consistent but varied interest in public transport (PT) settings, especially those of trains but also trams and buses. Forster studies benefit from exploring his treatment of PT while asking if there are mobilities that are specifically Forsterian. Literary studies of mobilities develop here within the context of an interdisciplinary project concerned with the kinds of public space found on and around PT. In grasping the mobilities of an individual writer, biographical evidence is both indispensable and problematic. Forsterian mobilities repeat and modify those of earlier English literary authors, as when a journey in Howards End echoes one in W.M. Thackeray’s Pendennis. Equally, PT networks such as the tramway of Alexandria were for Forster markers of modernity. Most importantly for Forsterian mobilities, PT travel facilitates personal boundary-crossing.

Keywords

• e.m. forster
• public transport
• mobilities
• literary urban studies
• individuality