ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on basic assumptions of urban cultural studies, ecocriticism, and cultural ecology in order to stress the active and 'regenerative' role of urban cultural forms of expression. It establishes some of the contexts for an analysis of Klein's multimedia documentary by discussing some of the key findings of Klein's 1997 monograph The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory, on which Bleeding Through is based to a considerable extent. The chapter shows how Bleeding Throughtakes us on a revisionist tour of twentieth-century Los Angeles (LA) history and points out the extent to which film and fiction have shaped perceptions of the city. It outlines the relationship between the novella and the DVD and by highlighting some of the features and design principles of the interactive DVD. The chapter provides a subversive view of hegemonic strategies of urban planning and ethnic segregation and undercuts conventional representations of multiethnic LA.
