The First Ghetto

or Venetian Exlemplariness
Alice Becker-Ho—a founding Situationist and linguist-historian of street slang usage—delivers a comprehensive study of the Venetian Ghetto. This deep dive traces its trajectory—from its prefigurative coordinates, through its foundation, to the modern day—and provides an authoritative etymology of the word 'ghetto' itself.
In 1516, the Venetian ghetto was established, and the city’s Jewish population was segregated into it. This move was to redefine city life and set a blueprint for a European urban capitalist future. In The First Ghetto, Situationist Alice Becker-Ho takes a long look at the history of Venice—and its importance to cities in general—arguing that it became the heir to ancient traditions that turned it into a model commercial city whose problems we still grapple with today. Through its examination of the four major established theories of the etymology and implications of the word ‘ghetto’, Becker-Ho’s intervention has the potential not so much to add a fifth to these, but to reduce them to one, definitive account.

Contributor: John McHale (Translated by)

Translator: John McHale

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