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THE PRACTICE OF'

E,VERYDAYLIFE

Michel de Certeau

Tianslatedby StevenRendall

uNrvERsrry pRESS
oFcALTFoRNTA frq g\'-)
-n r.u il/
"
Berkele.t'LosAngeles Lotulott

t _ l
 rarrerls arreadyat work.
Thus it is exemprary that D6tienne
shouldhavemadethemselves andvernant
the storytlllersof this,,labyrinthine
ligence"("inrelligen('e intel-
en elddales"), as FrangoiseFrontisiso well
terms
lr.J?:discursive
practiceof the story (l,histoire)
is both its arr and its Part III
At bottom, this is ail a very
who is not generailyconsiaerea
ord story. when he greword,
exactlya tightropedancer,liked
Aristotre, SpatialPractices
h i m s e l fi n t h e m o s tr a b y r i n t h i n e to rose
a n d s u b t l eo f d i s c o u r s eH
s .e h a d t h e n
arrivedat the age of nt?tis:"Th.,.more
solitaryand isolatedI become,
t h e m o r eI c o n r et o l i k e s t o r i e s . , , r 5
He h;;;;p1^ined thereason admir_
ably:as in the orderFreud,it was
a connoisseur,s admiration for thetact
t h a t c o m p o s e dh a r m o n i e a snd for its art of doing
is in a sensea loverof wisdom,
i t b y s u r p r i s e. .: T h e ChapterVII Walkirg in the City
for myth is composed
f]|:Jr: Tyth of

E E I N GM a n h a t t a n f r o m t h e l l O t h f l o o r o f t h e w o r l d - l - r a d e
cent er . Beneat h t he haz- est ir r ed up by t he winds,
t he ur ban
' \-, i sl and,a sea in t he m iddle of t he sea,lif t s up t he skyscr aper s
over
w a l l S t r e e t ,s i n k s d o w n a t G r e e n w i c h ,t h e n r i s e s
a g a i n t o t h e c r e s t so f
M i d t o w n , q u i e t l yp a s s e so v e r C e n t r a l P a r k a n d f i n a l l y
u n d u l a t e so f f i n t o
the distancebeyond Harlem. A wave of verticals.
Its agitation is
momentarilyar r est edby vision.The gigant icm ass is im m obilized
bef or e
the eyes. l t is t r ansf or m ed int o a t ext ur ology in
which ext r em es
c o i n c i d e - e x t r e m e so f a m b i t i o n a n d d e g r a d a t i o n b , r u t a r o p p o s i t i o n so f
racesand s t yles,cont r ast sbet weenyest er day'sbuildings,
alr eady t r ans_
f o r m e d i n t o t r a s h c a n s ,a n d t o d a y ' s u r b a n i r r u p t i o n s
that block out its
spaceu . n l i k e R o m e , N e w y o r k h a s n e v e rl e a r n e dt h e
a r t o f g r o w i n go l d
by pl ayi ng on all it s past s.I t s pr esentinvent sit self , f r om
hour t o hour ,
i n the act of t hr owing away it s pr eviousaccom plishm eht s
and challenging
the future' A cit y com posedof par oxysm alplacesin
m onum ent al r elief s.
T h e s p e c t a t o cr a n r e a d i n i t a u n i v e r s et h a t i s c o n s t a n t l y
e x p l o d i n g .I n i t
are inscribed the architectural figures of the coinc,iclario
opltr,t.sirsrunr
f o r m e r l y d r a w n i n m i n i a t u r e sa n d m y s t i c a rt e x t u r e s .
o n t h i s s t a g eo f
c o n c r e t e s, t e e la n d g l a s s ,c u t o u t b e t w e e nt w o o c e a n s( t h e
Atlantic and
the A meri c an) by a f r igid body of wat er , t he t allest let t er s
in t he wor ld
c o m p o s ea g i g a n t i c r h e t o r i c o f e x c e s si n b o t h e x p e n d i t u r e
and pro_
duction.r

9l
 92 WALKING IN THE CITY
IvA LKING IN THE CITI, 93

g11
Vct.yt v.vo r w aI k er' a l o o f , b y t h e s p a c ep l a n n e ru r b a n i s t ,c i t y p l a n n e ro r c a r t o g r a p h e rT. h e
p a n o r a m a - c i t yi s a " t h e o r e t i c a l "( t h a t i s , v i s u a l )s i m u l a c r u m ,i n s h o i t a
T o w h a t e r o t i c s o f k n o w l e d g e d o e s t h e e c s t a s yo f r e a d i n gs u c h a
p i c t u r e ,w h o s ec o n d i t i o n o f p o s s i b i l i t yi s a n o b l i v i o n a n d a m i s u n d e r -
c o s m o sb e l o n g ?H a v i n g t a k e n a v o l u p t u o u sp l e a s u r ei n i t , I w o n d e rw h a t
t" " dl tr_9{_ pr ag! i9es.The voyeur - god cr eat edby t his f ict ion, who, like
i s t h e s o u r c eo f t h i s p l e a s u r eo f " s e e i n gt h e w h o l e , " o f l o o k i n g d o w n o n ,
S chreber' sG od, knows only cadaver s. um ust disent anglehim self f r om
totaliz-ing t h e m o s t i m m o d e r a t eo f h u m a n t e x t s .
t h e m u r k y i n t e r t w i n i n gd a i l y b e h a v i o r sa n d m a k e h i m s e l fa l i e n t o t h e m .
T o be lif t ed t o th e s u m m i t o f th e W o rl d Trade C enter i s to be l i fted
The ordinar y pr act it ioner sof t he cit y live "down below, " below t he
o ut of t he c it y ' s g ra s p . On e ' s b o d y i s n o l o nger cl aspedby the streets
threshol dsat which visibilit y begins.They walk- an elem ent ar yf or m of
th ; i iuil' and r e tu rn i t a c c o rd i n g ro a n a n onymous l arv; nor i s i t pos-
thi s experienceof t he cit y: t hey ar e walker s. ll/ ander sr niinnerwhose ,
s es s ed,whet her a s p l a y e r o r p l a y e d ,b y th e rumbl e of so many di fferences
b o d i e sf o l l o w t h e t h i c k sa n d t h i n s o f a n u r b a n " t e x t " t h e y w r i t e r v i t h o u t
and by t he ner v o u s n e s so f N e w Yo rk tra ffi c . W hen one goesup there,he
bei ng abl e t o r t udlt - f it ese pr act it ioner sm ake use of spacest hat cannot
l eav esbehind t h e m a s sth a t c a rri e so ff a n d mi xes up i n i tsel fany i denti ty
b e s e e n ;t h e i r k n o w l e d g eo f t h e m i s a s b l i n d a s t h a t o f l o v e r s i n e a c h
o f aut hor s or s p e c ta to rs .A n l c a ru s fl y i n g above these w aters,he can
o t h e r ' sa r m s . T h e p a t h s t h a t c o r r e s p o n di n t h i s i n t e r t w i n i n g .u n r e c o g -
i g n o r e t h e d e v i c e s o f D a e d a l u s i n m o b i l e a n d e n d l e s sl a b y r i n t h sf a r
ni zed poem s in which each body is an elem entsignedby m any ot her s.
below. His ele v a ti o n tra n s fi g u re sh i m i n to a voyeur. l t puts hi m at a
el ud_gl egi b _ilit y. I t is as t hough t he pr act icesor ganizinga bust ling cit y
dis t anc e. I t t r a n s fo rm s th e b e w i tc h i n g w o rl d by w hi ch one w as " pos- w ere charact er izedby t heir blindness. 'The net wor ks of t hese m oving,
s eis ed" int o a te x t th a t l i e s b e fo re o n e ' se y es.It al l ow s one to read i t, to
r1te11gct ing wr it ings com posea m anif old st or y t hat has neit her aut hor
b e a s o l a r E y e , l o o k i n g d o w n l i k e a g o d . T h e e x a l t a t i o no f a s c o p i ca n d nor specta t or ,shapedout of f r agm ent sof t r aject or iesand alt er at ionsof
g nos t ic dr iv e: th e fi c ti o n o [ k n o w l e d g e i s rel ated to thi s l ust to be a
spaces:i n r elat ion t o r epr esent at ions. it r em ains daily and indef init ely
v i e w p o i n ta n d n o i n i n g m o r e . other.
M us t one f in a l l y fa l l b a c k i n to th e d a rk space w here crow ds move E scapi n gt he im aginar yt ot alizat ionspr oducedby t he eye.t he ever yday
b ac k and f or t h , c ro w d s th a t, th o u g h v i s i b l efrom on hi gh, are themsel ves hai a iertalnTtrari-fe-ni:si itrat does not surface,or whose surface is only
u n a b l e t o s e ed o w n b e l o w ?A n l c a r i a nf a l l . O n t h e l t O t h f l o o r , a p o s t e r , i ts upper l im it , out lining it selfagainstt he visible.Wit hin t his ensem ble,I
s p h i n x - l i k e ,a d d r e s s e a
s n e n i g m a t i cm e s s a g et o t h e p e d e s t r i a n
who is for s h a l l t r y t o l o c a t et h e p r a c t i c e st h a t a r e f o r e i g n t o t h e " g e o m e t r i c a l "o r
a n ins t ant t r a n s fo rme d i n to a v i s i o n a rv : It' s hard to be dow ,n w hen " g e o g r a p h i c a l s" p a c eo f v i s u a l , p a n o p t i c ,o r t h e o r e t i c a lc o n s t r u c t i o n s .
.l,ou'reup. Thesepracticbs-6fspacerefer to a specificform of operariorrs("ways of
T he des ir et o s e eth e c i ty p re c e d e dth e meansof sati sfyi ngi t. Medi eval o p e r a t i n g " ) ,t o " a n o t h e r s p a t i a l i t y " u( u n " a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l . "p o e t i c a n d
or Renais s an c ep a i n te rs re p re s e n te dth e c i ty as seeni n a perspecti ve that mythi c ex per ienceof space) and , t o an opaqueand blind nr obilit y char -
no ey e had y e t e n j o y e d .2T h i s fi c ti o n a l re ady made the medi evalspec- acteri sti co f t he bust ling, cit y,A nr igr at ional,or m et aphor ical.cit y t hus
t at or int o a c e l e s ti a l e y e . l t c re a te d g o d s. H ave thi ngs changedsi nce sl i psi nto the clear t ext of t he plannedand r eadablecit y.
t ec hnic al pr oc e d u re sh a v e o rg a n i z -e d a n " a l l-seei ngpow er" ?l The total i z-
ing ey e im agin e d b y th e p a i n te rs o f e a rl i e r ti mes l i veson i n our achi eve-
m ent s . T he s a m e s c o p i c d ri v e h a u n ts u s e r s of archi tecturalproducti ons l. Front the conceptof the citt' to urban pra(tircs
by m at er ializ i n g to d a y th e u to p i a th a t y e sterdayw as onl y pai nted.The The W orld Tr ade Cent eris only t he m ost m onum ent alf igur e of West er n
1370f oot high to w e r th a t s e rv e sa s a p ro w for Marfhattanconti nuesto urban de velopm ent .The at opiq- ut opia of opt ical knowledge has long
c ons t r uc t t he fi c ti o n th a t c re a te sre a d e rs ,makes the compl exi ty of the had the a m bit ion of sur m ount ing and ar t iculat ing t he cont r adict ions
c it y r eadable ,i n d i m m o b i l i z -e si ts o p a q u em obi l i ty i n a transparenttext. ari si ngfrom ur ban agglom er at ion,lt is a quest ionof m anaginga gr owt h
I s t h e i m m e n s e t e x t u r o l o g y s p r e a d o u t b e f o r e o n e ' s e y e sa n y t h i n g of human agglom er at ionor accum ulat ion."The cit y is a huge m onas-
m o r e t h a n a r e p r e s e n t a t i o na, n o p t i c a l a r t i f a c t ?l t i s t h e a n a l o g u eo f t e r ! , . "s a i d E r a s m u s P
. e r s p e c t i vvei s i o na n d p r o s p e c t i v e
v i s i o nc o n s t i t u t e
' t . hef ac s im ile n ro rl ' -' c e d th ro rrg h a . p ro j e cti on that i s a w ay of
keepi ng
94 W A LK IN G IN TH E C ITY W A LK ING I N THE CI TY 95

s ur f ac e t hat c a n b e d e a l t w i th . T h e y i n augurate(i n the si xteenthcen- to be reint r oduced int o adm inist r at ive cir cuit s and t r ansf or m s even
tury?) the transformation of the urban .fact into the concepr of a city. defi ci encies( in healt h,secur it y,et c. ) int o ways of m aking t he net wor ks
Long bef or e th e c o n c e p t i ts e l f g i v e sri s e to a parti cul arfi gure of hi story. of order denser .But in r ealit y, it r epeat edlypr oducesef f ect scont r ar y r o
i t a s s u m e st h a t t h i s f a c t c a n b e d e a l t w i t h a s a u n i t y d e t e r m i n e db y a n those at which it aim s: t he pr of it syst emgener at esa loss which, in r he
ur balls t r c - r y 1 i o . L i n k i n g th e c i ty to the concept i i evei rnakts-them mul ti pl e f or m s of wr et chedness and pover t y out side t he syst emand of
i d e n t i c a l , b u t i t p l a y s o n t h e i r p r o g r e s s i v es y m b i o s i s :t o p l a n a c i t y i s w aste i nside it , const ant lyt ur ns pr oduct ion int o "expendit ur e. " M or e-
bot h t o t hink th e v e ry p l u ra l i ty o f th e real and to make that w ay of over, the r at ionalizat ionof t he cit y leadst o it s r nyt hif icat ionin st r at egic
t lr ink ing t he p l u ra l e .ffe c ti v e i;t i s to k n ow how to arti cul ate i t and be di scourses, which ar e calculat ionsbasedon t he hypot hesisor t he neces-
ableto do it. si ty of i ts dest r uct ionin or der t o ar r ive at a f inal decision. eFinally, t he
f u n c t i o n a l i sot r g a n i z a t i o nb, y p r i v i l e g i n gp r o g r e s s( i . e . .t i m e ) , c a u s e st h e
condi ti o n of it s own possibilit y- space it self - t o be f or got t en. space
A n oper at ion a l c o n c e p t?
thus bec om est he blind spot in a scient if icand polit ical t echnology.This
T he " c it y " f o u n d e d b y u to p i a n a n d u rb a ni sti c di scourseti s defi ned by i s the w ay in which t he Concept - cit yf unct ions;a place of t r ansf or m a-
t he pos s ibili tyo f a th re e fo l d o p e ra ti o n : t i o n s a n d a p p r o p r i a t i o n st,h e o b j e c to f v a r i o u s k i n d s o f i n t e r f e r e n c b
eut
l. T he pro d u c ti o n o f i ts o w n s p a c e (un espacepropre): rati onal al so a su bjectt hat is const ant lyenr ichedby new at t r ibut es,it is sim ul-
or ganiz at ion m u s t th u s re p re s s a l l th e physi cal , mental and pol i ti cal taneously, t he m achiner yand t he her o of m oder nit y.
p o l l u t i o n st h a t w o u l d c o m p r o m i s ei t ; Today , what evert he avat ar sof t his concept m ay have been,we have
2 . t h e s u b s t i t u t i o n o r a i i b w h e n , o i o f a s y n c h r o n i cs y s t e m ,f o r t h e t o a c k n o w l e d g et h a t i f i n d i s c o u r s et h e c i t y s e r v e sa s a t o t a l i z i n ga n d
indet er m ina b l e a n d s tu b b o rn re s i s ta n c e soffered by tradi ti ons;uni vocal al most myt hical landm ar k f or socioeconom icand polit ical st r at egies,
s c ient if ics t ra te g i e s ,ma d e p o s s i b l eb y th e fl atteni ngout of al l the data i n urban l i fe incr easinglyper m it s t he r e- em er gence of t he elem entt hat t he
a plane pr oje c ti o n , mu s t re p l a c eth e ta c ti cs of usersw ho take advantage urbani sticpr oject excluded.The languageof power is in it self "ur baniz-
of " oppor t un i ti e s " a n d w h o , th ro u g h these trap-events,thesel apsesi n i ng," but t he cit y is lef t pr ey t o cont r adict or y m ovem ent st hat count er -
v is ibilit y , r ep ro d u c eth e o p a c i ti e so f h i s tory everyw here; bal anceand com bine t hem selvesout side t he r each of panopt ic power .
3. f inally, th e c re a ti o n o f a u n i v e rs a land anonymoussubi eclw hi ch i s The ci ty becom est he dom inant t hem e in polit ical legends,but it is no
t he c it y it s e l f: i t g ra d u a l l y b e c o me sp o s si bl eto attri bute to i t, as to i ts l onger a f ield of pr ogr am m ed and r egulat ed oper at ions. Beneat h t he
polit ic al m o d e l , H o b b e s ' S ta te ,a l l th e fu ncti onsand predi catesthat w ere di scours es t hat ideologizet he cit y, t he r usesand com binat ionsof power s
pr ev ious ly s c a tte re d a n d a s s i g n e d to many di fferent real subj ects- that hav e no r eadableident it y pr olif er at e:wit hout point s wher e one can
, g r o u p s ,a s s o c i a t i o n so, r i n d i v i d u a l s ." T h e c i t y , " l i k e a p r o p e rn a m e ,t h u s take hol d of t hem , wit hout r at ional t r anspar ency.t hey ar e im possiblet o
'
pr ov ides a w a y o f c o n c e i v i n g a n d c o n s tructi ngspaceon the basi s of a administer.
f init e num b e r o f s ta b l e ,i s o l a ta b l e ,a n d i nterconnectedproperti es.
A dm inis tra ti o n i s c o m b i n e d w i th a p rocessof el i mi nati oni n thi s pl ace
or ganiz ed b y " s p e c u l a ti v e " a n d c l a s s i fi catoryoperati ons.tOn the one The return of practices
hand, t her e i s a d i ffe re n ti a ti o na n d re d i stri buti onof the parts and func-
t ions of t he c i ty , a s a re s u l t o f i n v e rs i o n s,di spl acements, accumul ati ons, Tlg Qgl.gpj:gilY is decaying. Does that mean that the illness afflicting
et c . ; on t he o th e r th e re i s a re j e c ti o no f everythi ngthat i s not capabl eof both the r at ionalit y t t r ai f ounded it and it s pr of essionalsaf f lict s t he
being dealt w i th i n th i s w a y a n d s o c o n sti tutesthe " w aste products"of a urban populat ionsas well? Per hapscit ies ar e det er ior at ingalong wit h
f unc t ionali s t a d mi n i s tra ti o n (a b n o rma l ity,devi ance,i l l ness,death, etc.). the procedur est hat or ganizedt hem . But we m ust be car ef ul her e. T[ e
T o G s ; r e,-p ro g i 6 s sa tto w s a n i n c re a s i n gnumber of thesew astepi oau.tt mi ni ster sof knowledge have always assum edt hat t he whole univer se
96 W'ALKING IN THE CITY WALKING IN THE CITI' 91

was t hr eat en e d b y th e v e ry c h a n g e sth a t affectedthei r i deol ogi esand

t h e i r p o s i t i o n s . T h e y t r a n s m u t e t h e m i s f o r t u n e o f t h e i r t h e o r i e si n t o 2. The chorus of idle.footsteps
t heor ies of m i s fo rtu n e . Wh e n th e y tra n s form thei r bew i l dermenti nto
" c a t a s t r o p h e s , "w h e n . t h e y s e e k t o e n c l o s et h e p e o p l ei n t h e " p a n i c " o f "The goddesscan be r ecognizedby her st ep"
t heir dis c our s e sa, re th e y o n c e m o re n e c e ssari l ri V i r g i l ,A e n e i d , l , 4 0 5
y ght?
Rat her t ha n re m a i n i n g w i th i n th e fi e l d o f a di scoursethat uphol ds i ts
Thei r stor y beginson gr ound level,wit h f oot st eps.They ar e m yr iad, but
pr iv ilege by in v e rti n g i ts c o n te n t (s p e a k i n gof catastropheand no l onger
do not com posea ser ies.They cannot be count ed becauseeach unit has
o f p r o g r e s s ) ,o n e c a n t r y a n o t h e r p a t h : o n e c a n t r y a n o t h e r p a t h : o n e
a qual i tat ivechar act er :a st yle of t act ile appr ehensionand kinest het ic
c an analy z e th e mi c ro b e -l i k e , s i n g u l a r a nd pl ural practi cesw hi ch an
appropriat ion. Their swar m ing m ass is an innum er able collect ion of
u r b a n i s t i c s y s t e m w a s s u p p o s e dt o a d m i n i s t e ro r s u p p r e s sb, u t w h i c h
si ngul arit ies.Their int er t wined pat hs give t heir shape t o spaces.They
hav e out liv ed i ts d e c a y ; o n e c a n fo l l o w the sw armi ng acti vi ty of these
w eaveplacest oget her .I n t hat r espect .pedest r ianm ovem ent sf or m one'
pr oc edur es th a t, fa r fro m b e i n g re g u l a ted or el i mi nated by panopti c
of these"r eal syst em swhoseexist encein f act m akesup t he cit y. "" Tl't . y
adm inis t r at io n ,h a v e re i n fo rc e dth e m s e l v esi n a prol i ferati ngi l l egi ti macy,
ai i not t oiaiized; it is r at her t hey t hat spat ialize.They ar e no m or e
dev eloped an d i n s i n u a te d th e m s e l v e si n to the netw orks of survei l l ance,
insertedwithin a containerthan those Chinesecharactersspeakerssketch
a n d c o m b i n e d i n a c c o r d w i t h u n r e a d a b l eb u t s t a b l et a c t i c st o t h e p o i n t
out on their handswit h t heir f inget t ips.
of c ons t it ut i n g e v e ry d a y re g u l a ti o n s a n d surrepti ti ouscreati vi ti esthat
I t i s t r u e t h a t t h e o p e r a t i o n so f w a l k i n g o n c a n b e t r a c e do n c i t y m a p s
ar e m er ely c o n c e a l e db y th e fra n ti c m e c hani smsand di scoursesof the
i n such a way as t o t r anscr ibet heir pat hs ( her ewell- t r odden,t her e ver y
obs er v at ion a lo rg a n i z a ti o n .
fai nt) an d t heir t r aject or ies( going t his way and not t hat ) . But t heset hick
T his pat hw a y c o u l d b e i n s c ri b e d a s a consequence,but al so as the or thi n cur vesonly'r ef er ,like wor ds, t o t he absenceof what has'passed
r ec ipr oc al, o f .F o u c a u l t' sa n a l y s i so f th e s tructuresof pow er. H . moved by. S urveysof r out es m iss what was: t he act it self of passingby. The
it in t he dir e c ti o n o f m e c h a n i s msa n d techni cal procedures," mi nor o p e r a t i o no f w a l k i n g , w a n d e r i n g ,o r " w i n d o w s h o p p i n g . "t h a t i s . t h e
ins t r um ent a l i ti e s "c a p a b l e , m e re l y b y th e i r organi zati onof " detai l s,"of acti vi ty of passer s- by,is t r ansf or m edint o point s t hat dr aw a t ot alizing
t r a n s f o r m i n g a h u m a n m u l t i p l i c i t y i n t o a " d i s c i p l i n a r y "s o c i e t ya n d o f and rever sibleline on t he m ap. They allow us t o gr asponly a r elic set in
managing, differentiating, classifying, and hierarchizing all deviances the now hen of a sur f aceof pr oject ion. lt self visible, it has t he ef f ect of
c o n c e r n i n ga p p r e n t i c e s h i ph, e a l t h ,j u s t i c e ,t h e a r m y , o r w o r k . t o" T h e s e maki ng invisible t he oper at ion t hat m ade it possible.These f ixat ions
I of t en m inis c u l e ru s e s o f d i s c i p l i n e ," th e se " mi nor but fl aw l ess"mecha- consti tut epr ocedur esf or f or get t ing,The t r ace lef t behind is subst it ut ed
nis m s , dr aw th e i r e ffi c a c y fro m a re l a ti o nshi pbetw eenproceduresand for the practice.[t exhibits the (voracious)property that the geographical
t h e s p a c et h a t t h e y r e d i s t r i b u t ei n o r d e r t o m a k e a n " o p e r a t o r " o u t o f i t . s y s t e mh a s o f b e i n ga b l e t o t r a n s f o r ma c t i o n i n t o l e g i b i l i t y ,b u t i n d o i n g
B ut what s p a ti a l p ra t' ti c e s c o rre s p o n d , i n the area w here di sci pl i nei s so i t causesa way of beingin t he wor ld t o be f or got t en.
m anipulat e d , to th e s ea p p a ra tu s e sth a t produce a di sci pl i naryspace?In
t he pr es entc o n j u n c tu re ,w h i c h i s ma rk e d by a contradi cti onbetw eenthe
c ollec t iv e m o d e o f a d m i n i s tra ti o n a n d a n i ndi vi dual mode of reappro- Pedestrianspeechacts
pr iat ion, t h i s q u e s ti o n i s n o l e s s i mp o rtant, i f one admi ts that spati al A comp ar isonwit h t he speechact will allow us t o go f ur t her r 2and not
pr ac t ic es in fa c t s e c re tl ys tru c tu re th e d etermi ni ngcondi ti ons of soci al alone, looking
l i mi t our selvest o t he cr it ique of gr aphic r epr esent at ions
lif e. I woul d l i k e to fo l l o w o u t a fe w of these mul ti form. resi stance. from the shor esof legibilit y t owar d an inaccessible beyond. The act of
t r ic k y and s tu b b o rn p ro c e d u re sth a t e l ude di sci pl i new i thout bei ng out- w al ki ng is t o t he ur ban syst emwhat t he speechact is t o languageor t o
s ide t he f ie l d i n w h i c h i t i s e x e rc i s e d ,and w hi ch shoul d l ead us to a the sta t em ent sut t er ed. 13At t he m ost elem ent ar ylevel, it has a f f iiple
i t heor y o[ ev e ry d a y p ra c ti c e s ,o f l i v e d s p ace,of the di squi eti ngfami l i ari ty "enunciative" function: it is a process of appropriation of the topo-
' of the citv.
graphi c al syst em on t he par t of t he pedest r ian ( ust as t he speaker
 98 WALKING IN TH E CITY WALKING IN THE CITI' 99

appr opr iat e s a n d ta k e s o n th e l a n g u a g e ) ;i t i s a spati al acti ng-outof the spatial "language" or by displacingthem through the use
signifiers9f .t_h..
place fiust as the speechact is an acousticiCiinfonTitT iarigu@); and it he makes of t hem . He condem nscer t ain placest o iner t ia or disappear -
im plies r ela ti o n s a m o n g d i ffe re n ti a te d posi ti ons,that i s, among prag- ance and com poses*it t 't ot her s spat ial"t ur ns of phr ase"t hat ar e "r ar e, "
m at ic " c ont ra c ts " i n th e fo rm o f m o v e ments(ust as verbal enunci ati on " acci dent al"or illegit im at e. But t hat alr eady leads int o a r het or ic of
is an " alloc u ti o n ," " p o s i ts a n o th e r o p p o si te" the speakerand puts con- w al ki ng.
-Ii i
t r ac t s bet we e n i n te rl o c u to rs i n to a c ti o n ) .roIt thus seemspossi bl eto gi ve Th- ef r am ewor k of enunciat ion,t he walker const it ut es.in r elat iont o
a pr elim inar y d e fi n i ti o n o f w a l k i n g a s a spaceof enunci ati on. hi s posi t ion,bot h a near and a f ar , a her e and a t her e. To t he f act t hat
W e c ould m o re o v e r e x te n d th i s p ro b l emati cto the rel ati onsbetw een the adver bsher e and iher e ar e t he indicat or s of t he locut ionar y seat in
t h e a c t o f w r i t i n g a n d t h e w r i t t e n t e x t , a n d e v e n t r a n s p o s ei t t o t h e verbal com m unicat ion'u- a coincidencet hat r einf or cest he par allelism
r elit ions hip s b e tw e e n th e " h a n d ' ; l th e to uch and the tal e of the pai nt- betw eenlinguist ic and pedest r ianenunciat ion- we m ust add t hat t his
brush lte er la ge.steA;"i;";raul) and the finished painting (forms, l ocati on ( her e- t her e) ( necessar ily im plied by walking and indicat iveof
colors, etc.). At first isolated in the area-of vGibil-comiirtiriibation,the a p r e s e n ta p p r o p r i a t i o no f s p a c e b y a n " l " ) a l s o h a s t h e f u n c t i o n o f
s peec hac t t u rn s o u t to fi n d o n l y o n e o f i ts appl i cati onsthere,and i ts l i n- i n t r o d u c i n ga n o t h e r i n r e l a t i o n t o t h i s " 1 " a n d o f t h u s e s t a b l i s h i n ga
guis t ic m oda l i ty i s m e re l y th e fi rs t d e te rm i nati onof a much more general conj unct iveand disjunct ivear t iculat ionof places.I would st r esspar t icu-
,
'I"
distinction between the forms used in a system and itre wayJ of using l arl y the "phat ic- "aspect ,by which I m ean t he f unct ion, isolat ed by
',
t his s y s t em (i .e ., ru l e s ), th a t i s , b e tw e en tw o " di fferent w orl ds," si nce Mal i nowski and Jakobson,of t er m s t hat init iat e, m aint ain, or int er r upt
" t he s am e t h i n g s " a re c o n s i d e re dfro m two opposi teformal vi ew poi nts. c o n t a c t ,s u c h a s " h e l l o , " " w e l l , w e l l . " e t c . l t W a l k i n g . w h i c h a l t e r n a t e l y
Cons idere d fro m th i s a n g l e , th e p e d estri anspeechact has three char- foi tow s a pat h and has f ollower s, cr eat esa m obile or ganicit y in t he
ac t er is t ic sw h i c h d i s ti n g u i s h i t a t th e o u tset from the spati alE ystem:the e n v i r o n m e n ta, s e q u e n c o e f p h a t i c t o y s o iA. n d i f i t i s t r u e t h a t t h e p h a t i c
pr es ent ,t he d i s c re te ,th e " p h a ti c ." functi on, whichli an ef f or t t o ensur ecom m unicat ion.is alr eadychar ac-
F ir s t , if i t i s tru e th a t a s p a ti a l o rd e r organi zesan ensembl eof possi - teri sti c of t he languageof t alking bir ds, just as it const it ut est he "f ir st
b i l i t i e s ( e . g . , b y a p l a c e i n w h i c h o n e c a n m o v e ) a n d i n t e r d i c t i o n s( e . g . , verbal f unct ion acquir ed by childr en, " it is not sur pr ising t hat it also
by a wall that prevents one from going further), then the wii[er actual- g a m b o l s ,g o e s o n , a l l f o u r s , d a n c e s .a n d w a l k s a b o u t , w i t h a l i g h t o r
iz es s om e o f th e s e p o s s i b i l i ti e s .l n th a t w ay, he makesthem exi st as w el l h e a v ys t e p ,l i k e a s e r i e so f " h e l l o s " i n a n e c h o i n gl a b y r i n t h ,a n t e r i o ro r
as em er ge. Bu t h e a l s o mo v e s th e m a b out and he i nvents others,si nce parallel touip{o.rmative speech.
t he c r os s in g ,d ri fti n g a w a y , o r i mp ro v i sati onof w al ki ng pri vi l ege,trans- The moiialit iesof pedest r ianenunciat ionwhich a plane r epr esent at iot t
f or m or ab a n d o n s p a ti a l e l e me n ts .T h u s C harl i e C hapl i n mri tl i pi i esthe o n a m a p b r i n g s o u t c o u l d b e a n a l y z e d .T h e y i n c l u d e t h e k i n d s o f
pos s ibilit ie so f h i s c a n e : h e d o e s o th e r th i ngs w i th the samethi ng and he rel ati on shipt his enunciat ionent er t ainswit h par t icular pat hs ( or "st at e-
goes bey on d th e l i m i ts th a t th e d e te rmi nants of the obj ect set on i ts ments") by accor ding t hem a t r ut h value ( "alet hic" m odalit ies of t he
ut iliz at ion. In th e s a me w a y , th e l v a fk e l 1g1s[orms each spati alsi gni fi er n e c e s s a r yt h, e i m p o s s i b l et,h e ' p o s s i b l eo, r t h e c o n t i n g e n t )a, n e p i s t e m o -
int o s om et h i n g e l s e .An d i f o n th e o n e hand he actual i zesonl y a few of l ogi cal value ( "epist em ic"m odalit ies of t he cer t ain, t he excluded. t he
t he pos s ib i l i ti e sfi x e d b y th e c o n s tru c tedorder (he goes onl y here and fl ausi ble, or t he quest ionable)or f inally an et hical or legal value ( "de-
not t her e), o n th e o th e r h e i n c re a s e sthe number of possi bi l i ti es(for onti c" m odalit iesof t he obligat or y,t he f or bidden, t he per m it t ed,or t he
ex am ple, b y c re a ti n g s h o rtc u ts a n d d etours) and prohi bi ti ons (for ex- opti on al) . 't Walking af f ir m s, suspect s,t r ies out , t r ansgr esses, r espect s.
am ple, he fo rb i d s h i ms e l f to ta k e p a th s general l yconsi deredaccessi bl e etc., the trajdctciiies "speaks." ii All the modalities sing a part in this
I or euen ob l i g a to ry ). H e th u s m a k e sa sel ecti on." The user of a ci ty pi cks E hri i us ,changing f r om st ep t o st ep, st epping in t hr ough pr opor t ions.
i out certain fragments of the statement in order to actualize them in seque nces, . , nd int ensit ieswhich var y accor ding t o t he t im e, t he pat h
isecret."l5 .. taken and t he walker . Theseenunciat or yoper at ionsar e of an unlim it ed
, .. i.
He t hus c re a te sa d i s c re te n e s sw, h e ther by maki ng choi cesamong the di vers it y.They t her ef or ecannot be r educedt o t heir gr aphict r ail.
r00 WALKING IN THE CITY W A LK ING I N THE CI TY l0l

Walking rhetorics T h e l o n g p _ o e mo f w a l k i n g m a n i p u l a t e ss p a t i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s ,n o
F m a t t e r h o w p a n o p t i ct h e y m a y b e : i t i s n e i t h e r f o r e i g n t o t h e m ( i t c a n
T he walk ing o f p a s s e rs -b yo ffe rs a s e ri e sof turns (tours) and detours
t a k e p l a c eo n l y w i t h i n t h e m ) n o r i n c o n f o r m i t y w i t h t h e m ( i t d o e s n o t
t hat c an be c o m p a re d to " tu rn s o f p h ra s e" or " styl i sti cfi gures."There i s
recei vei ts idint it y f r om t hem ) . I t cr eat esshadowsand am biguit ieswit hin
a r het or ic of w a l k i n g . T h e a rt o f " tu rn i n g " phrasesfi nds an equi val enti n
t h e m . I t i n s e r t si t s m u l t i t u d i n o u sr e f e r e n c e sa n d c i t a t i o n s i n t o t h e m
an ar t of c om p o s i n g a p a th (to u rn e r u n p arcours). Li ke ordi nary l an-
(soci alm odels,cult ur al m or es,per sonalf act or s) .Wit hin t hem it is it self
guage, ' et his a rt i m p l i e s a n d c o mb i n e ss ty l esand uses._t4-p.ci fi es " a
the effec t of successive encount er sand occasionst hat const ant-d.8aiei.' lyalt er it
linguis t ic s t r u c tu re th a t ma n i fe s tso n th e symbol i c l evel . . . an i ndi vi d-
and make it the other's blazon: in other rvords. it is like ^
ual' s f undam e n ta l w a y o f b e i n g i n th e w orl d" ;zoi t connotesa si ngul ar. ,
carryi ng som et hingsur pr ising,t r ansver seor at t r act ive com par ed wit h
Us e def ines t h e s o c i a l p h e n o me n o n th ro ugh w hi ch a system of com- the usual choice.Thesediver seaspect spr ovide t he basis of a r het or ic.
fiiinication manifests itself in actual fact; it refers to a norm. Style and They can even be said to define it.
us e bot h hav e to d o w i th a " w a y o f o p erati ng" (of speaki ng,w al ki ng, B y ana lyzingt his "m oder n ar t of ever ydayexpr ession"as it appear sin
et c . ) , but s t yl e i n v o l v e s a p e c u l i a r p ro c e s si ngof the symbol i c,w hi l e use account sof spat ial pr act ices, t *J. - F. Augoyar d discer nsin it t r vo espe-
r ef er s t o elem e n tso f a c o d e . T h e y i n te rs e ctto form a styl e of use,a w ay ci al l y fundam ent alst ylist icf igur es:synecdocheand asyndet on.The pr e-
o f b e i n ga n d a w a y o f o p e r a t i n g . 2 r domi nan ceof t heset wo f igur es seem st o m e t o indicat e.in r elat ion t o
I n int r odu c i n g th e n o ti o n o f a " re s i d i ng rhetori c" (" rhetori quehabi - tw o com plem ent ar ypoles,a f or m al st r uct ur eof t hesepr act ices.S. t 'ner '-
t ant e" \ , t he fe rti l e p a th w a y o p e n e du p b y n. Meci ai n22 and systemati zed d o c h e c o n s i s t si n " u s i n g a w o r d i n a s e n s ew h i c h i s p a r t o f a n o t h e r
by S . O s t r ow e trk y " a n d J .-F . Au g o y a rd ,2'w e assumethat the " tropes" meani ngof t he sam e wor d. "2eI n essence. it nam esa par t inst eadof t he
c at aloguedb y rh e to ri c fu rn i s h mo d e l s a n d hypothesesfor the anal ysi sof w hol e w h ich includesit . Thus "sail" is t aken f or "ship" in t he expr ession
way s of appr o p ri a ti n g p l a c e s .T w o p o s tu l atesseemto me to underl i ethe " a fl bet of f if t y sails";in t he sam e way, a br ick shelt eror a hill is t aken
v alidit y of t h i s a p p l i c a ti o n : l ) i t i s a s s u m edthat practi cesof spaceal so for the par k in t he nar r at ion of a t r aject or y.As. t 'ndet onis t he suppr es-
correspond to manipulations of the basic elementsof a constructedorder; s i o n o f l i n k i n g w o r d s s u c ha s c o n j u n c t i o n sa n d a d v e r b s ,e i t h e r w i t h i n a
2) it is as s u m e d th a t th e y a re , l i k e th e tropes i n rhetori c, devi ati ons sentenceor bet weensent ences. I n t he sam eway, in walking it select sand
r elat iv e t o a s o rt o f " l i te ra l m e a n i n g " d e fi ned by the urbani sti csystem. fragmen t st he spacet r aver sed;it skips over links and whole par t s t hat it
T her e would th u s b e a h o m o l o g y b e tw e e nverbal fi guresand the fi gures o m i t s . F r o m t h i s p o i n t o f v i e w , e v e r yw a l k c o n s t a n t l yl e a p s ,o r s k i p sl i k e
of walk ing ( a s ty l i z e d s e l e c ti o na m o n g th e l atter i s al readyfound i n the a chi l d, hopping on one f oot . I t pr act icest he ellipsisof conjunct ive/ oci.
f i g u r e so f d a n c i n g )i n s o f a r a s b o t h c o n s i s ti n " t r e a t m e n t s "o r o p e r a t i o n s In realit y, t hese t wo pedest r ianf igur es ar e r elat ed. Synecdocheex-
a n d i n " a m b i g u o u sd i s p o s i t i o n st"h a t d i v e r t
b e a r i n go n i s o l a t a b l eu n i t s , 2 5 pands a spat ialelem entin or der t o m ake it play t he r ole of a "m or e" ( a
a n d d i s p l a c em e a n i n g i n t h e d i r e c t i o n o f e q u i v o c a l n e s s i2n6 t h e w a y a total i ty) and t ake it s place( t he bicycleor t he pieceof f ur nit ur e in a st or e
t r em ulous ima g e c o n fu s e s a n d mu l ti p l i es the photographedobj ect. In w i ndow st ands f or a whole st r eet or neighbor hood) . Asyndet on, by
t hes e t wo mo d e s , th e a n a l o g y c a n b e accepted.I w oul d add that the el i si on,cr eat esa "less, "opensgaps in t he spat ialcont inuum , and r et ains
geom et r ic a ls p a c eo f u rb a n i s tsa n d a rc h i tectsseemsto have the statusof only selectedparts of it that amount almost to relics. Synecdochere-
t he " pr oper me a n i n g " c o n s tru c te db y g rammari ansand l i ngui stsi n order pl acest ot alit iesby f r agm ent s( a / essin t he place of a nt or e) ; asyndet on
to have a normal and normative level to which they can compare the di sconnect st hem by elim inat ing t he conjunct ive or t he consecut ive
drifting of "figurative" languagb. In reality, this faceless"proper" mean- (nothi n g in place of som et hing) .Synecdochem akes m or e dense:it am -
ing (c'e"propre" sans.figure\ cannotbe found in currentuse,whether pl i fi es the det ail and m iniat ur izes t he whole. Asyndet on cut s out : it
verbal or pedestrian, it is merelythe fiction producedby a usethat is undoescont inuit y and under cut sit s plausibilit y.A spacet r eat edin t his
also particular,the meialinguistic that distinguishes
useof sciefice itself w ay and shaped by pr act icesis t r ansf or m ed int o enlar ged singular i-
b y t h a t v e r yd i s t i n c t i o n . 2 T Thr ough t hese swellings,shr inkings, and
ti es and separ at eislands. s0
 t02 IYALKING IN THE CITY WALKING IN THE CITI' r03

f r agm ent at io n s , th a t i s , th ro u g h th e s e rhetori cal operati ons a spati al

appropri at einvent or yf or t he r het or ic of t he f ir st t r vo r egist er sof expr es-
phr as ingof a n a n a l o g i c a (c
l o m p o s e do f j u xtaposedci tati onslanai i ti pti cal
si on i s equallyvalid f or t he t hir d. lf t her e is a par allelism ,it is not only
( m ade of ga p s , i i p s e s , a n d a l l u s i o n s ) type i s created.For the techni l
becauseen unciat ionis dom inant in t heset hr ee ar eas,but also because
logic al s y s t e m o f a c o h e re n t a n d to ta l i zi ng space that i s " l i nked" and
i ts di scursive( ver balized,dr eam ed.or walked) developm entis or ganized
s im ult aneou s , th e fi g u re s o f p e d e s tri a nrhetori c substi tutetraj ectori es'
as a rel ation bet weent he place f r om which it pr oceeds( an or igin) and
t hat hav e a m y th i c a l s tru c tu re , a t l e a s t i f one understandsby ' l myth" a the now her eit pr oduces( a way of "going by") .
dis c our s er el a ti v e to th e p l a c e /n o w h e re(o r ori gi n) of concreteexi stence, F r o m t h i s p o i n t o f v i e w , a f t e r h a v i n gc o m p a r e dp e d e s t r i a np r o c e s s e s
a s t o r y j e r r y - b u i l t o u t o f e l e m e n t st a k e n f r o m c o m m o n s a y i n g sa, n a l l u - t o l i n g u i s t i cf o r m a t i o n s ,w e c a n b r i n g t h e m b a c k d o w n i n t h e d i r e c t i o n
s iv e and f r ag me n ta ry s to ry w h o s e g a p s m esh w i th the soci alpracti cesi t of onei ri c f igur at ion, or at least discoveron t hat ot her side what , in a
symbolizes. spati al pra ct ice,is insepar ablef r om t he dr eam ed place. To walk is t o
Flg-greqare the acts of this stylistic metamorphosisof space.Or rather, l a c k a p l a c e .I t i s t h e i n d e f i n i t ep r o c e s so f b e i n g a b s e n ta n d i n s e a r c ho f
as Rilk e put s i t, th e y a re mo v i n g " tre e so f gestures."They move eventhe a p r o p e r . - T h em o v i n g a b o u t t h a t t h e c i t y m u l t i p l i e sa n d c o n c e n t r a t e s
r igid and c o n tri v e d te rri to ri e s o f th e m edi co-pedagogi cali nsti tute i n makei the cit y it selfan im m ensesocialexper ienceof lacking a place- an
whic h r et ard e d c h i l d re n fi n d a p l a c e to pl ay and dance thei r " spati al experi enoet hat is, - io b. , ur . , br oken up int o count lesst iny depor t at ions
s t or ies . " 3rTh e s e " tre e s o f g e s tu re s "a re i n movementeveryw here.Thei r (di spl acem ent and s walks) , com pensat edf or by t he r elat ionshipsand
f or es t s walk th ro u g h th e s tre e ts .T h e y transform the scene,but they i n t e r s e c t i o n so f t h e s e e x o d u s e st h a t i n t e r t w i n e a n d c r e a t e a n u r b a n
c annot be f i x e d i n a c e rta i n p l a c e b y i m a ges.l f i n spi te of that an i l l us- f a b r i c , a n d p l a c e du n d e r t h e s i g n o f w h a t o u g h t t o b e , u l t i m a t e l y .t h e
t r at ion wer e re q u i re d , w e c o u l d me n ti o n the fl eeti ng i mages,yel l ow i sh- p l a c eb u t i s o n l y a n a m e ,t h e C i t y . T h e i d e n t i t yf u r n i s h e db y t h i s p l a c ei s
gr een and m e ta l l i c b l u e c a l l i g ra p h i e st hat how l w i thout rai si ng thei r a l l t h e m o r e s y m b o l i c( n a m e d )b e c a u s ei.n s p i t e o f t h e i n e q u a l i t yo f i t s
v oic es and e mb l a z -o nth e ms e l v e so n th e subterraneanpassagesof the c i t i z e n sp' o s i t i o n sa n d p r o f i t s .t h e r e i s o n l y a p u l l u l a t i o no f p a s s e r - b ya,
c it y , " em br o i d e ri e s " c o mp o s e d o f l e tte r s and numbers, perfectgestures n e t w o r k o f r e s i d e n c etse m p o r a r i l ya p p r o p r i a t e db y p e d e s t r i a nt r a f f i c , a
of violencepainted with a pistol, Shivas made of written characters, shuffl i ng am ong pr et ensesof t he pr oper . a univer se of r ent ed spaces
danc ing gr a p h i c s w h o s e fl e e ti n g a p p a ri ti ons are accompani edby the hauntedb y a nowher eor by dr eam ed- ofplaces.
r um ble of s u b w a y tra i n s : N e w Yo rk g ra ffi ti .
If it is true that .fore.st'i- of-lrsrures ^r. manifest in the streets,their
m ov em ent c a n n o t b e c a p tu re d i n a p i c tu re, nor can the meani ngof thei r N amesan d sym bols
m ov em ent s b e c i rc u m s c ri b e di n a te x t. Thei r rhetori caltranspl antati on A n i n d i c a t i o no f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i pt h a t s p a t i a l p r a c t i c e se n t e r t a i nw i t h
c ar r ies awa y a n d d i s p l a c e sth e a n a l y ti cal ,coherentproper meani ngsof that al sg lr g is f ur nished pr eciselyby t heir m anipulat ions of and wit h
ur banis m ; i t c o n s ti tu te s a " w a n d e ri n g of the semanti c" r2produced by " proper" nam es.The r elat ionshipsbet weent he dir ect ion of a walk ( / e
r)-r
m as s est hat m a k e s o m e p a rts o f th e c i ty d i sappearand exaggerate others, sensde Ia ntarche) and ,the meaning of words (_lesensc!1 lno1l situate
, dis t or t ing it, fra g m e n ti n gi t, a n d d i v e rti ng i t from i ts i mmobi l e order.
tw Ji orti of uppur ent lycont r ar y m ovem ent s.one ext r over t( t o walk is t o
go outsi d e) ,t he ot her int r over t ( a m obilit y under t he st abilit y of t he
si gni fi er). Walking is in f act det er m ined by sem ant ic t r opism s; it is
3 . M y t h s : w h a t " m o k e sl h i n g sg o "
attracted and r epelled by nom inat ions wlt ose m eaning is not clear ,
T he f igur es o f th e s em o v e me n ts(s y n e cdoches, el l i pses,etc.) characteri ze w hereast he cit y, f or it s par t , is t r ansf or m ed f or m any people int o a
both a "symbolic order of the unconscious"and "certain typical processes " desert"in which t he m eaningless, indeedt he t er r if ying,no longer t akes
of subjectivity manifested in discourse."rr The similarity between"dis- the form of shadowsbut becom es,as in G enet 'splays, an im placable
, , c our s e" s oa n d d re a m s l s h a s to d o w i th thei i use-oi ttt. si mL " i tyl i sti c
---*..* l i ght that pr oducest his ur ban t ext wit hout obscur it ies,which is cr eat ed
proi.au.es"; it therefore includes pedestrian praitices as well. The "an- by a technocr at icpower ever ywher eand which put s t he cit y- dweller
, cient .uiiiog of i;;;;;;' that fiom Freud to Benvenistehas furnished an under cont r ol ( under t he cont r ol of what ? No one knows) : "The cit y
 t04 VVAI.KING IN THE CITY' W A LK IN G I N THE CI TI ' r05

k eeps us und e r i ts g a z e , w h i c h o n e c a n n ot bear w i thout feel i ng di zzy," Li nki ng act s and f oot st eps,opening m eaningsand dir ect ions,t hese l
s a y sa r e s i d e n to f R o u e n . ' oI n t h e s p a c e sb r u t a l l y l i t b y a n a l i e n r e a s o n , w o r d s o p e r a t ei n t h e n a m e o f a n e m p t y i n g - o u ta n d w e a r i n g - a w a yo f i
p r o p e r n a m e sc a r v e o u t p o c k e t so f h i d d e n a n d f a m i l i a r m e a n i n g sT. h e y t h e i r p r i m a r y r o l e . T h e y b e c o m el i b e r a t e ds p a c e st h a t c a n b e o c c u p i e d .
" m a G T e r i s e " ; i n o i h e r w o r d s , t h e y a r e t h e i m p e t u so f m o v e m e n t sl,i k e A rich indetermination g i v e st h e m . b y m e a r r so f a s e m a n t i cr a r e f a c t i o n ,
v oc at ions an d c a l l s th a t tu rn o r d i v e rt a n i ti neraryby gi vi ng i t a meani ng' t h e f u n c t i o n o f a r t i c u l a t i n ga s e c o n d .p o e t i c g e o g r a p h yo n t o p o f t h e
( or a dir ec t io n ) (.re n .r) th a t w a s p re v i o u s l yunforeseen. Thesenamescreate g e o g r a p h yo f t h e l i t e r a l ,f o r b i d d e no r p e r m i t t e dm e a n i n g T. hey insinuate
a

a nowher e in p l a c e s ;th e y c h a n g eth e m i n to passages. o t h e r r o u t e s i n t o t h e f u n c t i o n a l i s ta n d h i s t o r i c a lo r d e r o f m o v e t n e n t .

A f r i e n d w h o l i v e s i n t h e c i t y o f S d v r e sd r i f t s , w h e n h e i s i n P a r i s , W al ki ng follows t hem : "l f ill t his gr eat enr pt y space wit h a beaut if ul
t owar d t he ru e d e s Sa i n ts -P i re .ra n d th e rue de S ?r' res,eventhough he i s n a m e . " 3 8P e o p l ea r e p u t i n m o t i o n b y t h e r e r n a i n i n gr e l i c s o f m e a n - i
g o i n g t o s e eh i s m o t h e r i n a n o t h e rp a r t o f t o w n : t h e s en a m e sa r t i c u l a t ea i ng, and som et im esby t heir wast e pr oduct s, t he inver t ed r em ainder si
s e n t e n c et h a t h i s s t e p s c o m p o s e w i t h o u t h i s k n o w i n g i t . N u m b e r e d o f g r e a ta m b i t i o n s . ' nT h i n g st h a t a m o u n t t o n o t h i n g .o r a l m o s t n o t h i n g , ;
s t r e e t sa n d s t r e e t n u m b e r s( l l 2 t h S t . , o r 9 r u e S a i n t - C h a r l e so)r i e n t t h e s y m - b o l i z ea n d o r i e n t w a l k e r s ' s t e p sn: a n l e st h a t h a v ec e a s e dp r e c i s e l tyo
m a g n e t i c f i e l d o f t r a j e c t o r i e sj u s t a s t h e y c a n h a u n t d r e a m s .A n o t h e r be " proper . "
f r i e n d u n c o n s c i o u s l yr e p r e s s etsh e s t r e e t sw h i c h h a v e n a m e sa n d , b y t h i s I n t h e s es y m b o l i z i n gk e r n e l st h r e e d i s t i n c t( b u t c o n n e c t e d )f u n c t i o n s
f a c t , t r a n s m i t h e r - o r d e r s o r i d e n t i t i e si n t h e s a m e w a y a s s u m m o n s e s of the relat ionsbet weenspat ial and signif ying pr act icesar e indicat ed
a n d c l a s s i f i c a t i o n .ssh; e g o e s i n s t e a da l o n g p a t h s t h a t h a v e n o n a m e o r (and perhapsf ounded) :t he heliet 'ahle.t he nr er t t or ahle, and t he pr ir r r it ile.
s i g n a t u r e .B u t h e r w a l k i n g i s t h u s s t i l l c o n t r o l l e dn e g a t i v e l yb y p r o p e r They designate w h a t " a u t h o r i z e s "( o r n r a k e sp o s s i b l eo r c r e d i b l e )s p a t i a l
names. a p p r o p r i a t i o n sw. h a t i s r e p e a t e di n t h e m ( o r i s r e c a l l e di n t h e m ) f r o m a
W h a t i s i t t h e n t h a t t h e y s p e l l o u t ? D i s p o s e di n c o n s t e l l a t i o ntsh a t s i l e n ta n d w i t h d r a w n m e m o r y .a n d w h a t i s s t r u c t u r e di n t h e m a n d c o n -
hierarchiz-e a n d s e m a n t i c a l l yo r d e r t h e s u r f a c eo f t h e c i t y , o p e r a t i n g ti nuesto b e signedby an in- f ant ile( in- lan. r )or igin. Theset hr ee sym bolic
c h r o n o l o g i c a l a r r a n g e m e n t sa n d h i s t o r i c a lj u s t i f i c a t i o n s ,t h e s e w o r d s m e c h a n i s m so r g a n i z et h e t o p o i o f a d i s c o u r s eo n / o f t h e c i t y . ( ! q g q
( B or r dgc . t I, l o tz a ri .r, Bo u g a i n t,i l l e ... ) s l ow l y l ose, l i ke w orn coi ns, the * ..nory, dr eam ) in a way t hat also eludesur banist icsyst em at icit y.
"nd
y 3! 9 _er y 11 y g do n th 9 m, b u t th e i r a b i l i ty to si gni fy outl i vesi ts fi rst defi - Tfri!-firn atrei.f-6e recognizedin the functions of proper names: they
nit ior r . S r r in /.1Pi' - re :;,C o re n ti n C e l to n , R eclS quare... thesenamesmake make habit ableor believablet he placet hat t hey clot he wit h a r vor d ( by
\ t hem s elv es a v a i l a b l e to th e d i v e rs eme a ni ngsgi ven them by passerr-by: e m p t y i n g t h e m s e l v e so f t h e i r c l a s s i f y i n gp o w e r , t h e y a c q t r i r c t h a t o f
' , t hey det ac h th e ms e l v e sfro m th e p l a c e sth ey w ere supposedto defi neand " p e r m i t t i n g "s o m e t h i n ge l s e ) ;t h e y r e c a l lo r s u g g e s p t h a n t o n r s( t h e d e a d
\
i s e r t ' ea s l m a g l n a r y m e e t i n g - p o i n t so n i t i n e r a r i e sw h i c h , a s m e t a p h o r s , w h o a ' r es u p p o s e dt o h a v ed i s a p p e a r e dt )h a t s t i l l n r o v ea b o u t . c o n c e a l e d
i t h e y d e t e r m i n e f o r r e a s o n st h a t a r e f o r e i g n t o t h e i r o r i g i n ' a vl a l u e b r j t i n g e s t u r eas n d i n b o d i e si n m o t i o n ; a n d . b y n a m i r r g t. h a t i s . b y i r r t p o s i n g
I r noy be r ec o g n i z -e do r n o t b y p a s s e rs - by.A strange toponymy that i s a n i n j u n c t i o np r o c e e d i n gf r o m t h e o t h e r ( a s t o r y ) a r r d b y a l t e r i n gf u n c -
det ac hed f ro m a c tu a l p l a c e s a n d fl i e s hi gh over the ci ty l i ke a foggy t i o n a l i s t i d e n t i t y b y d e t a c h i n gt h e m s e l v e sf r o n r i t . t h e y c r e a t e i n t h e
g e o g r a p h y o f " m e a n i n g s " h e l d i n s u s p e n s i o n d, i r e c t i n g t h e p h y s i c a l p l a c ei t s e t ft h a t e r o s i o no r n o w h e r et h a t t h e l a w o f t h e o t h e r c a r v e so u t
deambulations below: Pla<'e de l'Etoile, Conc'orde, Poissonniire. . . within it.
T hes e c ons te l l a ti o n so f n a me s p ro v i d e traffi c patterns:they are stars
air - . c t i; g i fi n e ra ri e s . " T h e Pl a c e d e l a C oncorde does not exi st,"
C redi bl et hingsand m em or ablet hings:habit abilit y
Malaparte said, "it is an idea."lt lt is much more than an "idea." A
whole s er i e s o f c o m p a ri s o n s w o u l d b e necessaryto account for the B y a p a r a d o x t h a t i s o n l y a p p a r e n t ,t h e d i s c o u r s et h a t m a k e s p e o p l e
I m agic al po w e rs p ro p e r n a m e se n j o y . T h e y seemto be carri edas embl ems bel i eveis t he one t hat t akes away what it ur ges t hem t o believein. or
: b y t h e t r a v e l l e r st h e y d i r e c t a n d s i m u l t a n e o u s ldye c o r a t e . neverdeliver swhat it pr om ises.Far f r om expr essinga void or descr ibing
r06 WALKING IN THE CITY WALKING IN THE CITY t07

a lac k , it c r e a te ss u c h . It m a k e sro o m fo r a voi d. In that w ay, i t opens

up .somethlng different. What does travel ulti-
c lear ings ;it " a l l o w s " a c e rta i n p ra y w i th i n a systemof defi ned pl aces. lt.djg 9El__up*spag9-to-
It mateTtpr oduce if it is not , by a sor t ol r ever sal,"an explor at ion of t he
" aut hor iz e s " th e p ro d u c ti o n o f a n a re a of free pl ay (spi el raum\
on a desertedplacesof m y m em or y, " t he r et ur n t o near by exot icism by way
c hec k er boa rd th a t a n a l y z e s a n d c l a s s i fi esi denti ti es. It makes pl aces
of a det our t hr ough dist ant places,and t he "discover y" of r elics and
h a b i t a b l e .O n t h e s eg r o u n d s ,I c a l l s u c h d i s c o u r s ea " l o c a l a u t h o r i t v . "I t
l egends:"f leet ingvisionsof t he Fr enchcount r yside. ""f r agm ent sof m usic
is a crack in the system that saturates places witt--srgnificitlon anO
a n d p o e t r y , " o oi n s h o r t , s o m e t h i n gl i k e a n " u p r o o t i n g i n o n e ' s o r i g i n s
indeed s o re d u c e s th e m to th i s s i g n i f i cati on that i t i s " i mpossi bl eto
(H ei degger ) ?What t his walking exile pr oducesis pr eciselyt he body of
b r e a t h e i n t h e m . " I t i s a s y m p t o m a t i ct e n d e n c yo f f u n c t i o n a l i s t o t a l i -
l egendst hat is cur r ent ly lacking in one's or vn vicinit y: it is a f ict ion,
t ar ianis m (i n c l u d i n g i ts p ro g ra m m i n g o f gamesand cel ebrati ons)that i t
w h i c h m o r e o v e rh a st h e d o u b l e c h a r a c t e r i s t i cl i,k e d r e a m so r p e d e s t r i a n
s eek s pr eci s e l y to e l i mi n a te th e s e l o c a l authori ti es,becausethey com- As a
rhetori c ,of being t he ef f ect of displacem ent sand condensat ions. ot
p r o m i s e t h e u n i v o c i t y o f t h e s y s t e m .T o t a l i t a r i a n i s ma t t a c k s w h a t i t pr act ices
corol l ary, one can m easur et he im por t anceof t hesesignif ying
quit e c or r e c tl y c a l l s .s u p e rs ti ti o n ss:u p e rerogatorysemanti coverl aysthat
(to tel l o neselflegends)as pr act icest hat invent spaces.
ins er t t hem s e l v e s" o v e r a n d a b o v e " a n d " i n excess," oo and annex to a . From t his point of view, t heir cont ent s r em ain r evelat or y,and st ill
pas t or po e ti c re a l m a p a rt o f th e l a nd the promoters of techni cal
more so is t he pr inciple t hat or ganizest hem . St or ies about placesar e
rationalities and financial profitabilities had reservedfor themselves. makesh if tt hings.They dr e com posedwit h t he wor ld; sdebr is.Even if t he
ult im at e l y , s i n c e p ro p e r n a m e s a re al ready ..l ocal authori ti es" or l i terary f or m and t he act ant ial schem a'of"super st it ions"t ot t . r pond t o
" s uper s t it i o n s ,"th e y a re re p l a c e db y n u mbers:on the tel ephone,one no
stabl emodels whosest t uct ur esand com binat ionshave of t en been ana-
longer dial s Op e ra , b u t 0 7 3 . T h e s a me i s true of the stori esand l egends
l yzedov er t he past t hir t y year s,t he m at er ials( all t he r het or icaldet ailsof
t hat haunt u rb a n s p a c e l i k e s u p e rfl u o u sor addi ti onal i nhabi tants.They
their "manifestation") are furnished by the leftovers from nominations,
ar e t he obj e c t o f a w i tc h -h u n t, b y th e v e ry l ogi c of the techno-structure.
taxonom ies,her oic or com ic pr edicat es,et c. , t hat is, by f r agm ent s of
B u t t h e i r e x t e r m i n a t i o n ( l i k e t h e e x t e r m i n a t i o no f t r e e s ,f o r e s t s ,a n d and even cont r ar y ele-
scatter edsem ant icplaces.These het er ogeneous
h i d d e n p l a c e si n w h i c h s u c h l e g e n d sl i v e ) a rm a k e st h e c i t y a . . s u s p e n d e d
ments fill t he hom ogeneousf or m of t he st or y. Things ext r a and ot her
s y m b o l i c o r d e r . " o t T h e h a b i t a b l ec i t y i s t h e r e b y a n n u l l e d .T h u s , a s a (detai l sand excessescom ing f r om elsewher e)inser t t hem selvesint o t he
wom an f r o m R o u e n p u t i t, n o , h e re " th ere i sn' t any pl acespeci al ,except acceptedf r am ewor k, t he im posedor der . O ne t hus has t he ver y r elat ion-
f or m y own h o m e , th a t' s a l l . . . . T h e re i sn' t anythi ng."N othi ng.' speci al " : ship betweenspatial practicesand the constructedorder. The surface of
n o t h i n g t h a t i s m a r k e d , o p e n e du p b y a m e m o r y o r a s t o r y , s i g n e db y thi s order is ever ywher epunchedand t or n open by ellipses,dr if t s, and
s om et hing o r s o m e o n e e l s e .On l y th e cave of the home remai nsbel i ev- i tfidui-ota.t.
leaksof meaning:it is a
a b l e , s t i l l o p e n f o r a c e r t a i nt i m e t o l e g e n d ss, t i l l f u l l o f s h a d o w s E
. xcept ;,, The ver bal r elics of which t he st or y is com posed,being t ied t o lost
f or t hat , a c c o rd i n g to a n o th e r c i ty -d w el l er, there are onl y ..pl acesi n stori esa nd opaqueact s,ar e juxt aposedin a collagewher e t heir r elat ions
I

whic h one c a n n o l o n g e r b e l i e v ei n a n y thi ng." o' I are not t hought , and f or t his r easont hey f or m a sym bolic whole. ouThey
I
I t i s t h r o u g h t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t h e y o f f e r t o s t o r e u p r i c h s i l e n c e sa n d ir are articulated by lacunae.Within the structured space of the text, they
w o r d l e s ss t o r i e s ,o r r a t h e r t h r o u g h t h e i r c a p a c i t yt o c r e a t ec e l l a r sa n d tl
,, li thus produceant i- t ext s,ef f ect sof dissim ulat ionand escape,possibilit ies
gar r et s ev e ry w h e re ,th a t l o c a l l e g e n d s(l egenda:w hat \s to be read, but rl of moving int o ot her landscapes,like cellar sand bushes:"d nt assif 's, 6
I
.t
a l s o w h a t t a n b e r e a d ) p e r m i t e x i t s ,w a y s o f g o i n g o u t a n d _ g o m i n bg a c k rl pl uri e ls. "otBecauseof t he pr ocessof dissem inat iont hat t hey open up,
in, and t h u s h a b i ta b l e s p a c e s .C e rta i nl y w al ki ng about and travel i ng ll
;l
I
stori es dif f er f r om . lum or s in t hat t he lat t er ar e always injunct ions,
s ubs t it ut e fo r e x i ts , fo r g o i n g a w a y a n d comi ng back, w hi ch w ere for- I
i ni ti ator sand r esult sof a levellingof space,cr eat or sof com m on m ove-
ri l li
m er ly m ad e a v a i l a b l e b y a b o d y o f l e gendsthat pl acesnow adaysl ack. ' ll!l ments t hat r einf or cean or der by adding an act ivit y of m aking people
I
i
P hy s ic alm o v i n g a b o u t h a s th e i ti n e ra ntfuncti on of yesterday'or s today' s 't
:t lt
. bel i ev et hings t o t hat of m aking people do t hings. St or ies diver sif y,
I " s uper s t it i o n s ."T ra v e l _ .(l i k ew a l k i n g ) i s a substi tutefor the l egendsthat 'i
ii
) l
rumor s t ot alize. I f t her e is st ill a cer t ain oscillat ion bet ween t hem , it
lf
,i
 l0tt W A LK IN G IN TH E C ITY I+'ALKINGIN THE CITI' r09

s eem s t hat to d a y th e re i s ra th e r a s tra t i fi cati on:stori es are becomi ng C hi l dhoodand m et aphor sof places
p r i v a t e a n d s i n k i n t o t h e s e c l u d e dp l a c e si n n e i g h b o r h o o d sf ,a m i l i e s ,o r
i n d i v i d u a l s ,w h i l e t h e r u m o r s p r o p a g a t e db y t h e m e d i ac o v e re v e r y t h i n g M e t a p h o rc o n s i s t isn g i v i n gt h e t h i n g
and, gat her e d u n d e r th e fi g u re o f th e C i ty, the masterw oi cioTan anony- a n a n r e t h a t b e l o n g st o s o m e t h i n g
.
m o u s l a w , t h e s u b s t i t u t ef o r a l l p r o p e r n a m e s ,t h e y w i p e o u t o r c o m b a t else.
I :
a n y s u p e r s t i t i o n sg u i l t y o f s t i l l r e s i s t i n gt h e f i g u r e A r i s t o t l e . p o e r i c s1 4 5 7 b
T h e d i s p e r s i o no f s t o r i e sp o i n t s t o t h e d i s p e r s i o no f t h e m e m o r a b l ea s
w e l l . A n d i n f a c t m e m o r y i s a s o r t o f a n t i - m u s e u m i: t i s n o t l o c a l i z a b l e . I I
Tlgg:gggbl_. tS tha! which can be drearned about a place. In this
pl ace that is a palim psest ,subject ivit yis alr eady linked t o t he absence
I t
,l
F r agm ent so f i t c o me o u t i n l e g e n d s Ob . j e ctsand w ords ai i i j fi avehol l ow
plac es in wh i c h a p a s t s l e e p s ,a s i n th e e v erydayacts of w al ki ng, eati ng,
,l
'l t h a t s t r u c t u r e si t u t - . * i r i . n c e a n d m a k e si t " b e t h e r e , "L ) a s e i r tB. u t a s w e
I
I h a v es e e n ,t h i s b e i n g - t ! 9 r ea c t s o n l y i n s p a t i a lp r a c t i c e st.h a t i s , i n x , a . l , . t
g o i n g t o b e d , i n w h i c h a n c i e n tr e v o l u t i o n ss l u m b e r .A m e m o r yi s o n l y a ;\
of nrov ing inr o t or nr t 'iiir ig'df f ir ent ( nt anibr escle passetd. l'aule) . I t
P r inc e Charm i n g w h o s ta y s j u s t l o n g e nough to aw aken the S l eepi ng
m t i i t - u i t i m a t e l y b e s e e na s t h e r e p e t i t i o n ,i n d i v e r s er n e t a p h o r s o. f a
Bcauties of our wordless stories. "_!!_t.f-u, there used to be a bakery."
d e c i s i v ea n d o r i g i n a r ye x p e r i e n c et ,h a t o f t h e c h i l d ' sd i f f e r e n t i a t i o nf r o m
" T h a t ' . r w h e r e o l d l a d y D u p u i s u s e d t o l i v e . " I t i s s t r i k i n g h e r et h a t t h e
t h e m o t h A ' S - b b d i rl.t i s t h r o u g h t h a t e x p e r i e n c et h a t t h e p o s s i b i l i t yo f
p l a c e sp e o p l el i v e i n a r e l i k e t h e p r e s e n c eosf d i v e r s ea b s e n c e sW. h a t c a n
s p a c e - A ; a - o fa l o c a l i z a t i o n( a " n o t e v e r y t h i n g " )o f t h e s u b j e c t i s i n -
be s eendes i g n a te sw h a t i s n o l o n g e r th ere: " you see,here there used to
augurat ed.We need not r et ur n t o t he f anr ous analysisF19ud nr ade of
be . . . , " bu t i t c a n n o l o n g e r b e s e e n . Demonstrati vesi ndi catethe i n-
thi s mat r ix- exper ienceby f ollowing t he gam e played by his eight een-
v i s i b l e i d e n t i t i e so f t h e v i s i b l e :i t i s t h e v e r y d e f i n i t i o no f a p l a c e ,i n f a c t ,
m o n t h - o l dg r a n d s o n w , h o t h r e w a r e e la w a y f r o n r h i m s e l f ,c r y i n g o h - o h -
t hat it is c o mp o s e d b y th e s e s e ri e so f d ispl acementsand effectsamong
,rr\t he f r agm e n te d s tra ta th a t fo rm i t a n d that i t pl ays on these movi ng
o h i n p l e a s u r e. f, o r t l .( i . e . ," o v e r t h e r e . "" g o n e , " o r " n o n r o r e " ) a n d t h e n
pul l ed i t back wit h t he piece of st r ing at t ached t o it r vit h a delighr ed
I ay er s .
dat (i .e. , "her e, " "back again") ; 51it suf f ices her e t o r em em ber t liis
" M e m o r i e s t i e u s t o t h a t p l a c e .. . . I t ' s p e r s o n a l ,n o t i n t e r e s t i n gt o
(peri l ou sand sat isf ied)pr ocessof det achm entf r or n indif f er enr iar ionin
any one els e , b u t a fte r a l l th a t' s w h a t gi ves a nei ghborhoodi ts char-
t h e m o t h e r ' sb o d y , w h o s es u b s t i t u t ei s t h e s p o o l : t h i s d e p a r t u r eo f t h e
ac t er . " 48T h e re i s n o p l a c e th a t i s n o t h a unted by many di fferentspi ri ts
mother (som et im esshedisappear sby her self ,som et im est he child nr akes
h i d d e n t h e r e i n s i l e n c e s, p i r i t s o n e c a n " i n v o k e " o r n o t . H a u n t e dp l a c e s
h e r d i s a p p e a rc) o n s t i t u t e sl o c a l i z a t i o na n d e x t e r i o r i t ya g a i n s tt h e b a c k -
ar e t he only o n e s p e o p l e c a n l i v e i n -a n d thi s i nvertsthe schemaof the
g r o u n d o f a n a b s e n c eT. h e r e i s a j o y f u l m a n i p u l a t i o nt h a t c a n m a k e t h e
P a n o p t i < ' o nB. u t l i k e t h e g o t h i c s c u l p t u r e so f k i n g sa n d q u e e n st h a t o n c e
rnaternalobject "go away" and m ake oneselfdisappear ' ( insof ar as one
ador ned No tre -D a me a n d h a v e b e e n buri ed for tw o centuri esi n the
c o n s i d e r so f i e s e l fi d e n t i c a lw i t h t h a t o b j e c t ) .m a k i n g i t p o s s i b l et o b e
bas em ent o f ^ b u i l d i n g i n th e ru e d e l a C hauss6e-d' A nti n,a'these
there(because)v'it hout t he ot her but in a necessar yr elat ion t o wliat has
" s pir it s , " t h e ms e l v e sb ro k e n i n to p i e c e si n l i ke manner,do not speak any
d i s a p p e a r e dt h; i s m a n i p u l a t i o ni s a n " o r i g i n a ls p a t i a ls t r u c t u r e . "
m or e t han th e y .re e T . h i s i s a s o rt o f k n ow l edgethat remai nssi l ent.Onl y
' Just betw eenyou N o doubt one could t r ace t his dif f er ent iat ionf ur t her back. as f - aras
hint s of wh a t i s k n o w n b u t u n re v e a l e dare passedon
the nam ing t hat separ at est he f oet us ident if ied as m asculine f r om his
and me."
mother - but how about t he f em alef oet us.who is f r om t his ver y m om ent
P lac esa re fra g me n ta ry a n d i n w a rd -t urni nghi stori es,paststhat others
i ntrodu ced int o anot her r elat ionshipt o space'lln t he init iat or y gam e,
ur i n" t ullo w e d to re a d . a c c u mu l a te dti m es that can be unfol dedbut l i ke
j ust as i n t he "joyf ul act ivit y" of t he child who, st andingbef or ea m ir r or ,
s t or ies hel d i n re s e rv e ,re ma i n i n g i n a n eni gmati cstate,symbol i zati ons
' :l feel good hi i e" ' ro the seesi tself as one ( it is slr e or he, seenas a whole) but onor her ( r hat , - An
enc y s t ed in th e p a i n o r p l e a s u reo f th e body.
i m a g ew i t h w h i c h t h e c h i l d i d e n t i f i e si t s e l f ; . sw2 h a t c o u n t si s t h e p r o c e s s
well- being u n d e r-e x p re s s e di n th e l a n guagei t appearsi n l i ke a fl eeti ng
o f t h i s " s p a t i a lc a p t a t i o n "t h a t i n s c r i b e st h e p a s s a g e t o w a r d t h e o t h e ra s
g l i m m e r i s a s p a t i a lp r a c t i c e .
 il0 IYALKING IN THE CITY

t h e l a w o f b e i n g a n d t h e l a w o f place.To practicespaceis thusto repeat

.y t he joy f ul a n d s i l e n t e x p e ri e n c eof childhooO; it is, in a place;o 6e other
i -- l .' .r \
ond to move toward the other. '1 '-'

ChapterVIII Kailway l\avlgauon

T\ LT ,'
T hus beg i n s th e w a l k th a t F re u d c o m paresto the trampl i ng underfoot
of t he m oth e r-l a n d .5 3T h i s re l a ti o n s h i pof onesel fto onesel fgovernsthe
int er nal al te ra ti o n s o f th e p l a c e (th e re l ati onsamong i ts strata) or the and Incarceration
pedes t r ianu n fo l d i n g o f th e s to ri e sa c c u mul atedi n a pl ace(movi ng about
t 6e c it y ind tra v e l l i n g ).T h e c h i l d h o o d experi encethat determi nesspati al
pr ac t ic esla te r d e v e l o p si ts e ffe c ts ,p ro l i ferates,fl oods pri vateand publ i c
s pac es ,un d o e s th e i r re a d a b l es u rfa c e s,and createsw i thi n the pl anned
c it y a " m et a p h o ri c a l " o r m o b i l e c i ty , l i k e the one K andi nskydreamedof: T R A V E L L I NIG N C A R C E R A T I oI m n -n. r o b i l ei n s i d et l i e t r a i n . s e e i n g
" a gr eat c i ty b u i l t a c c o rd i n g to a l l th e rul es of archi tectureand then i m m o b i l et h i n g ss l i p b y . W h a t i s h a p p e r r i n gN ?othing is nroving
s uddenlys h a k e n b y a fo rc e th a t d e fi e sal l cal cul ati on." 5a i n s i d eo r o u t s i d et h e t r a i n .
T h e u n c h a n g i n gt r a v e l l e ri s p i g e o n h o l e dn. u m b e r e d .a n d r e g u l a t e di n
t h e g r i d o f t h e r a i l w a yc a r , w h i c h i s a p e r f e c ta c t u a l i z a t i o rorl ' t h e r a t i o n a l
utopi a. Cont r ol and f ood m ove f r om pigeonholet o pigeor r hole:"Ticket s,
pl ease. . . " "sandwiches?Beer '?Cof f ee'?. . . "' O nly t he r est r oom sof 'f er
an esca pef r om t he closedsyst em .They ar e a lover s' phant ar sma. wlly
out for the ill, an escapade f o r c h i l d r e n( " W e e - w e e ! " ) - a l i t t l e s p a c eo f
i rrati onalit y,like love af f air s and sewer sir r t he Llt ct piasof ear liert inr es.
E x c e p tf o r t h i s l a p s eg i v e no v e r t o e x c e s s e se.v e r y t h i n gh a s i t s p l a c ei n a i
g r i d w o r k . O n l y a r a t i o n a l i z e dc e l l t r a v e l s .A b u b b l e o f p a n o p t i c a n d r
cl assi fyingpower , a m odule of inr pr isonnr entt hat m akes possiblet he '
p r o d u c t i o n o f a n o r d e r , a c l o s e d a n d a u t o n o n r o u si n s u l a r i t y - t h a t i s i
w h a t c a n t r a v e r s es p a c ea n d m a k e i t s e l fi n d e p e n d e not f l o c a l r o o t s .
I n s i d e ,t h e r ei s t h e i m m o b i l i t y o f a n o r d e r . H e r e r e s ta n d d r e a n r sr e i g n
supreme.Ther e is not f ilngt o do, one is in t he st ot eof r eason.Ever yt hir r g
i s i n i ts place,as in Hegel's Philosoph. t 'ct .Right
l' . Ever y being is placed
there l i k e a pieceof pr int er 's t ype on a page ar r anged in m ilit ar y or der .
Thi s or der , an or ganizat ionalsyst em ,t he quiet udeof a cer t at inr eason,is
the condit ion of bot h a r ailway car 's and a t ext 's m ovem ent f r om one
pl aceto anot her .
O u t s i d e ,t h e r e i s a n o t h e ri m m o b i l i t y ,t h a t o f t h i n g s .t o w e r i n g m o u n -
t a i n s ,s t r e t c h e so f g r e e nf i e l d a n d f o r e s t .a r r e s t e dv i l l a g e s c, o l o n n a d e so f
bui l di ngs, black ur ban silhouet t esagainst t he pink evening sky. t he
tw i nkl ing of noct ur nal light s on a sea t hat pr ecedesor succeedsour
hi stories.The t r ain gener alizesDi. ir er 'sM elancholia,a speculat iveex-
peri enceof t he wor ld: being out side of t hese t hings t hat st ay t her e,
detachedand absolut e,t hat leaveus wit hout having anyt hing t o do r vit h