The Concept of the Flâneur
The concept of the flâneur is a rather abstract concept. It describes someone who strolls the urban space, watching, hiding in the crowd and enjoying the moment. It is an attitude to life, or better an art of living. In times of fast life, people have to force themselve to stand still and to enjoy. Althought Edgar Allan Poe was the first who created a flâneur with his The Man of the Crowd (Neumeyer 1999, 15), it was Walter benjamin who established the flâneur as a central figure of modernity (Neumeyer 1999, 14). Poe's man of the crowd of the 19th century and the modern flâneur of the 20th century differ from each other. Poe created someone who is afraid of his own company and therefore uses the crowd as a shelter (Neumeyerr 1999, 15). The street crowd in which her hides is used in order to see without being seen (Baumann 1994, 141). However, the modern flâneur uses the crowd to see and he also wants to be seen (Neumeyer 1999, 53). But they all have in common that the flâneur is open-minded and unprejudiced and he wanders without aim, his only aim is the aimless stroll (Bauman 1994, 141).
The flâneur is always decribes as 'he', which is mainly because the concept of the female flâneur was rather weak if not absent during the time of modernity (Gleber 1997, 65). The typical flâneur seems to be male. Women in public space were not even noted. There seems to be not even an adequate name for the female flâneur. According to Anke Gleber, the term flâneuse implies a typical female connotation at least in German usage. There is for instance also a Friseuse which is a female hairdresser and a Masseuse which is a female massage practitioner. The terms female flâneur or famme flâneur also imply the typical woman. And the term passante implies the woman is more a pedestrian than a flâneur. However, it is a given fact that there are female flâneurs in modern literature as for instance in Nancy Lee's short stories 'Dead Girls' (2002). Due to the fact that nowadays everyone can be a flâneur and the boundaries between female and male flâneurs are blurred, which is at least a benefit of the internet where everyone can practice flâneurie anonymously, I tend to use the term flâneur for both male and female.
Originally, the flâneur performed on the street of the modern metropolis. The arcades of Paris denote the archetype of the type of big city street (Bauman 1994, 147). But nowadays the arcades are just a tourist attraction than the playground of the flâneur (Bauman 1994, 148). Today, people pass from A to B as fast as possible without stopping because the street became dangerous and those who stay on the street are dangerous as well (Bauman 1994, 148). It thus seems prudent, that people want to have secure places where it is comfortable to stay in (Bauman 1994, 149). And often people feel exclusively secure when they are inside. It is arguable then that, although he is the observer of the marketplace (Benjamin 1999, 427), the flâneur as well wants to have a secure place to stay for his flâneurie. Furthermore, if most of the people leave the street for the inside, the flâneur has nothing to watch and to hide. The best compromise of inside and outside is a shopping mall, where it is inviting, clean, and secure (Bauman 1994, 149). Therefore, the shopping mall became the new flâneurs paradise. And it is interesting at this point that often shopping malls are named arcades as for instance the 'Zwickau Arcaden'. In other words, the modern flâneur uses the modern arcades instead of the street which became dead space.
Living in the modern world of these days means living a fast life where you cannot stand still (Bauman 1994, 138). Everyone is always busy and rushes from one appointment to the next in order to meet deadlines. People resort to excuses why they cannot stand still in order to just have a look. They always run out of time. However, for the flâneur this might be an imagined problem. For the flâneur, people just think they are in a hurry while they imagine to be stressed out and that there is no time left. In fact, when the human being is disconnected from the virtual life, there is enough time. The flâneur wanders without I pod, wi-fi and facebook, he is just on his own. At this point I want to suggest an experiment. Maybe it is better to try this experiment at the weekend because at work you might be forced to work with a computer. Just for one day, for 24 hours, switch off the computer with facebook and outlook and all these things that demand your attention. Switch off your cell phone, your TV, your MP3 player, your games console, your radio and than wait things to come. And there will be – silence. And you will be bored. Needless to point out that this is the time where everyone will recognise that there is actually enough time for flâneurie.
The flâneur is always decribes as 'he', which is mainly because the concept of the female flâneur was rather weak if not absent during the time of modernity (Gleber 1997, 65). The typical flâneur seems to be male. Women in public space were not even noted. There seems to be not even an adequate name for the female flâneur. According to Anke Gleber, the term flâneuse implies a typical female connotation at least in German usage. There is for instance also a Friseuse which is a female hairdresser and a Masseuse which is a female massage practitioner. The terms female flâneur or famme flâneur also imply the typical woman. And the term passante implies the woman is more a pedestrian than a flâneur. However, it is a given fact that there are female flâneurs in modern literature as for instance in Nancy Lee's short stories 'Dead Girls' (2002). Due to the fact that nowadays everyone can be a flâneur and the boundaries between female and male flâneurs are blurred, which is at least a benefit of the internet where everyone can practice flâneurie anonymously, I tend to use the term flâneur for both male and female.
Originally, the flâneur performed on the street of the modern metropolis. The arcades of Paris denote the archetype of the type of big city street (Bauman 1994, 147). But nowadays the arcades are just a tourist attraction than the playground of the flâneur (Bauman 1994, 148). Today, people pass from A to B as fast as possible without stopping because the street became dangerous and those who stay on the street are dangerous as well (Bauman 1994, 148). It thus seems prudent, that people want to have secure places where it is comfortable to stay in (Bauman 1994, 149). And often people feel exclusively secure when they are inside. It is arguable then that, although he is the observer of the marketplace (Benjamin 1999, 427), the flâneur as well wants to have a secure place to stay for his flâneurie. Furthermore, if most of the people leave the street for the inside, the flâneur has nothing to watch and to hide. The best compromise of inside and outside is a shopping mall, where it is inviting, clean, and secure (Bauman 1994, 149). Therefore, the shopping mall became the new flâneurs paradise. And it is interesting at this point that often shopping malls are named arcades as for instance the 'Zwickau Arcaden'. In other words, the modern flâneur uses the modern arcades instead of the street which became dead space.
Living in the modern world of these days means living a fast life where you cannot stand still (Bauman 1994, 138). Everyone is always busy and rushes from one appointment to the next in order to meet deadlines. People resort to excuses why they cannot stand still in order to just have a look. They always run out of time. However, for the flâneur this might be an imagined problem. For the flâneur, people just think they are in a hurry while they imagine to be stressed out and that there is no time left. In fact, when the human being is disconnected from the virtual life, there is enough time. The flâneur wanders without I pod, wi-fi and facebook, he is just on his own. At this point I want to suggest an experiment. Maybe it is better to try this experiment at the weekend because at work you might be forced to work with a computer. Just for one day, for 24 hours, switch off the computer with facebook and outlook and all these things that demand your attention. Switch off your cell phone, your TV, your MP3 player, your games console, your radio and than wait things to come. And there will be – silence. And you will be bored. Needless to point out that this is the time where everyone will recognise that there is actually enough time for flâneurie.
The post-millenium flâneur, as I want to call the modern flâneur of these days, can practice flâneurisme even without leaving home (Bauman 1994, 155). It started with video tapes. Everyone could buy or rent a video tape that did the dreaming for him or her. And the superlative comparison is the omnipresent wi-fi where everyone can go everywhere via the internet. The modern flâneur can visit every street in every city via google street view or google earth. He or she can see everyone without being seen via facebook. And at this place she is consciously used because the modern post-millenium flâneur is no longer male but asexual.
Due to the possibilities which are offered by the internet and in particular by facebook, the modern flâneur becomes the voyeur. Informations about almost every person are present in the internet, via facebook the flâneur can watch everyone, he or she can even spy on everyone. Some people appear in facebook with informations about every step they take. This virtual world is the new flâneurs paradise. |
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