The Shoe: An Essay on Repair
Lisa Gitelman
Professor, Department of English and Department of Media, Culture and Communication
New York University
This essay argues that the meaning of repair hinges upon the breakable objects of our solicitous attention. That is, repair and the reparable are forever mutually defined in an ongoing dynamic. Taking shoe repair as my central example, I chart the points of connection and contrast that have made the cobbler and his shop meaningful as site and subject of repair.