Paper short abstract:

The use of poetry to shape affective experiences of humans and non-human components of the built environment is a recurring theme of post-Soviet scholarship. This paper examines poetry and politics in contrasting representations of a neighborhood in Vilnius as plans for its reshaping unfold.

Paper long abstract:

Naujininkai is a neighborhood south of the train tracks in Vilnius, which has long been stigmatized and marginalized for its working-class and ethnic-minority population. In 2019 the Lithuanian Railways, together with the City Government, introduced plans for a massive urban renewal project targeting the train station and surrounding areas. This ambitious project is branded as "Vilnius Connect" to highlight mobility, as well as a promise of overcoming spatial and social segregation by 'bringing the city center to the other side of the tracks'. Meanwhile, a handful of poets and writers who moved to this area over the last decade have produced works that demonstrate a deep sense of connection with the city through the existing urban infrastructure. These works stand in stark contrast to the justification the city deploys for the new project, which presents existing transportation infrastructure as an exclusionary border or boundary. How might place-based poetry about cities be considered a form of politics, particularly by articulating subtle embodied practices and affective attunements to other-than-human elements of the urban environment? In what ways might poetry oppose or get co-opted by urban renewal projects or other attempts to shape a city's image and affect? By analyzing the language of urban renewal branding in juxtaposition with the poetry of residents of the targeted neighborhood, this paper will offer an approach to researching affect through attention to the interplay of poetics, infrastructure, and politics.