DHUM 27A27 - Walking in the city : les flâneuses

This class focuses on the French art of “flânerie,” or the act of strolling aimlessly through the city from the late nineteen century to present. Exploring the intersection between the city walker and the urban environments that he or she navigates on foot, this class will provide a unique perspective on the role of public space in the construction of urban modernity in France and political and social emancipation. This class adopts an explicitly class-, race-, and gender-critical approach to the study of “flânerie”—an able-bodied practice that has traditionally been associated with a certain “Baudelairean” archetype of bourgeois masculinity—asking: Who has the right to linger and be seen in public space? Which are the responses feminism could give to the question posed by flânerie? How does the act of strolling aimlessly through the city intersect with other forms of societal privilege, such as gender, class and racial privilege, and when and where can wandering become a means of protest or resistance? By tracing the itineraries and embodied geographies that are traversed by flâneurs and flâneuses alike, this course aims to create a map of social mobility and urban modernity in the ever-evolving French city as well as interrogate the ways in which walking could be a form of emancipation.

María-victoria LONDONO-BECERRA,Jessica PASSOS

Séminaire

English

Autumn 2022-2023

- participation, and active contribution to in-class discussions. 20% - “storymapping” project ( creative application of course material). 20% - one in-class oral presentation prepared in group. (oral communication, synthesizing course material). 25% - a final paper (written communication, synthesizing course material). 35%