The City & the City Terms

Besź refers both to people and things from Besźel and to the language spoken there. Note that this is different from Ul Qoma, where the adjective to describe things belonging to the city is Ul… read analysis of Besź

Ul Qoman refers to people and things from Ul Qoma. It is not the language of the city, which is Illitan. read analysis of Ul Qoman

Illitan is the language spoken in Ul Qoma. Its counterpart in Besźel is Besź. read analysis of Illitan

Crosshatched refers to areas of one city that are interspliced with the other city. This is the opposite of areas that are “total” (i.e., totally in one city or the other). read analysis of Crosshatched

ECS is the acronym for the Extreme Crime Squad, the division of the Besź policzai that Borlú works for. read analysis of ECS

Dissensi are areas that are neither in Ul Qoma nor in Besźel, but which residents of each city think are in the opposite city. In Between the City and the City, Bowden argues that… read analysis of Dissensi

Policzai is the Besź word for police, and describes the specific police force that operates in Besźel. read analysis of Policzai

The militsya is the Ul Qoman equivalent of the policzai. read analysis of Militsya

Unificationists are dissidents who want Besźel and Ul Qoma to fuse into one city. read analysis of Unificationists

In some ways the term “nationalist” has the same meaning in the novel as it does generally. Besź and Ul Qoman nationalists describe themselves as patriots who want to prioritize their own city-state over all… read analysis of Nationalists

This is a word used to describe the obsession of (non-Besź or Ul Qoman) people who are fascinated by the two cities. read analysis of Dopplurbanology

This term serves to clarify how two places in the different cities can physically occupy the same or proximate space, even though they are not technically “near” each other according to the geographic regime of… read analysis of Grosstopically