Comments on: The Fl�neur exposed

Question: The Flâneur exposed

0bvious — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:38:54 -0800

'The Flâneur': What fascinating titbits can you add to my knowledge about this concept? Art, history, philosophy and literary theory links all welcome.

Walter Benjamin wrote on them; Edgar Allan Poe supposedly utilized the concept in his story 'The Man of the Crowd'; the 19th century Parisians relished them. Art, literary theory, have been altered irrevocably since.

Insights please!

Thanks

By: Ufez Jones

Ufez Jones — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:00:55 -0800

Interesting concept. I'd not heard of this before.

Wikipedia pointed me to this link-heavy site that may be of interest to you. They also point to official website of La Société des Flâneurs Sans Frontières (Liverpool chapter).

Thanks for helping provide my evening reading for the night!

By: jack_mo

jack_mo — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:11:23 -0800

The contemporary flaneur might well refer to himself as a psychogeographer.

By: 0bvious

0bvious — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:20:11 -0800

Yeah, it's not a concept I had come across until recently. Not much out there on it either...

I willbe writing a piece on it in the next few days, just looking for something juicy. Thanks for the interest though. Let me know if you discover anything which delights.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:37:07 -0800

I don't know if he fits exactly, but Speed Levitch might be an interesting connection for you. Professional weirdo, gives (or gave) erudite idiosyncratic walking tours of NYC. There's a documentrary about him called "The Cruise" which is very entertaining.

By: Boydrop

Boydrop — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:38:33 -0800

A bit of super-local trivia: In front of the Lycee Francais La Perouse San Francisco on Ashbury Street someone etched in the sidewalk "Be a Flâneur".

Not terribly helpful, but I always thought it was cool that some high school student out there once felt compelled to write that and not SKOOL SUX!! or whatever.

By: dhruva

dhruva — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:46:30 -0800

Julian Barnes' novel Metroland dances around this topic.

By: gregb1007

gregb1007 — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:47:01 -0800

This book seems to be a good study of the phenomenon:

http://www.ebooks.com/ebooks/book_display.asp?IID=166710

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:05:49 -0800

I assume you've seen Edmund White's book called The Flaneur.

By: jayder

jayder — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:07:12 -0800

I associate the concept of the flâneur with Baudelaire.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:25:41 -0800

Jayder has it.

By: jayder

jayder — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:15:31 -0800

Hmm, I have read several Julien Barnes novels but not Metroland. At least from the description, it sounds more interesting than the ones I read.

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:24:22 -0800

Actually, Wolof, OmieWise has it. Edmund White's book is a brief examination of the history of the idea, including a study of Baudelaire and a reminiscence of White's own time wandering Paris streets. It's interesting and solid. If 0bvious is writing on the topic, it's probably best to begin with White, especially if—as it sounds—the piece is a magazine popularization.

By: 0bvious

0bvious — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:41:11 -0800

I am doing a presentation on The Flaneur in relation to inspiration for writers. That is, through the concepts of flanerie one may enhance one's perception, sense of self and place: all good fodder for the writer's notebook.

Thanks very much for the ideas so far. I am planning to hit the streets of London sometime this weekend, strap a camera to my shoulder/front and free associate with the city streets. Let my eyes dictate the content of my thoughts and the camera capture the two in juxtaposition.

Anything else I could do which woul inspire a group of budding writers?

By: nasreddin

nasreddin — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:28:19 -0800

Read this and also this.

By: jmgorman

jmgorman — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:44:35 -0800

Benjamin's discussions of Baudelaire's flaneur are fun. They are, of course, in his Arcades Project, but you can also find lots of quotes and analysis of it (from an architectural perspective) in Gilloch's Myth and Metropolis.

By: dhruva

dhruva — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:12:24 -0800

The Nonist has a bunch of links as well in this post.

By: deaddodo

deaddodo — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 02:05:53 -0800

Check out Iain Sinclair's work, especially about London (London Orbital, Lights Out for the Territory). Also pick up a copy of Smoke, a London-ish city wandering magazine, and London Walking, a little book by Simon Pope.

By: 0bvious

0bvious — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 04:05:34 -0800

Nonist to the rescue!

I love Jaime

By: blueshammer

blueshammer — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 06:09:35 -0800

I associate the concept of the flâneur with Baudelaire.

In The Penultimate Peril, Lemony Snicket has the Baudelaire orphans posing as flaneurs.

By: Sprout the Vulgarian

Sprout the Vulgarian — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 08:45:06 -0800

Actually, blueshammer, they're posing as concierge. They're undercover flaneurs.

I'm certain their last name is no coincidence.
Obvious, maybe you can use a brief passage from the book in your presentation.

By: 0bvious

0bvious — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 07:25:11 -0800

Here's the notes for my presentation:

The Flâneur, The City and its 'Otherness'

(p.s. It went well)

By: clairezulkey

clairezulkey — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 12:58:29 -0800

I remember learning about the Flaneur in art history. Specifically, I remember my teacher saying "She's all like, 'Hello, Mr. Flaneur!' I am sure he was referring to a nude, and I'm not sure which one. But I do remember learning that the men in Renoir's The Boating Party could be considered flaneurs.

Sorry, this is like six year old knowledge you're getting from me.