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THE PRACTICE OF' E,VERYDAY LIFE

Michel de Certeau

Tianslated by Steven Rendall

g\'-) pRESS oFcALTFoRNTA uNrvERsrry frq -n r.u il/ "

Berkele.t'LosAngeles Lotulott

I t _ l

lr.J?:discursive At bottom, this is ail a very ord story. when he grew ord, Aristotre, who is not generaily consiaerea exactly a tightrope dancer, likedto rose himself i n t h e m o s tr a b y r i n t h i n e a n d s u btle o 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 isolated I 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 that composed h a r m o n i ea snd for its art of doing ..The it b y s u r p r i s e : is in a sense a loverof wisdom,for myth is composed of Tyth

rarrer ls arready at work.Thus it is exemprary that D6tienne and vernant shouldhavemadethemselves the storytlllers of this,,labyrinthine intelligence" ("inrelligen('e en elddales"), as Frangoise Frontisiso well terms practice of the story (l,histoire) is both its arr and its

Part III

SpatialPractices

ChapterVII

Walkirg in the City

f]|:Jr:

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 cen te r . Be neat h t he haz-e s ti rred up by t he winds, the urban ' \-, i sl an d,a sea in t he m iddl e of t he sea,li ft s up t he skys craper 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 s o v e r C e n t r a lP a r k a n d f i n a l l y u n d u l a t e s off into the distancebeyond H a r l e m . A w a v e o f v e r t i c a l s . I t s a g i t a t ion is momen ta ril ya r r est edby visi on.The gigant icmass is im mobili zed before the eyes. l t is tr an sform ed int o a t ext urology in w hich extr emes coincide-extremes o f a m b i t i o n a n d d e g r a d a t i onb , r u t a ro p p o s i t i o n s of ra ce san d st yl es,cont ra st sbet weenyest er day's bui ldings ,alr eady t rans_ 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 b y p la yin g on a ll i ts pas t s. I t s present invent s it self , f rom hour t o hour, i n the act of th r owing a way it s previ ous ac com plis hm ehts and c hall enging the fu tu re' A cit y com posed par ox ysm al of places in m onum ent al r el iefs . The spectatoc r a n r e a di n i t a u n i v e r s e that is constantly 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 formerly drawn in m i n i a t u r e s a n d m y s t i c a r t 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 es , t e e la n d g l a s s , c u t o u t b e t w e e n t w o ( t h e o c e a n s A t l a ntic and the A meri ca n) by a f rigid body of w at er, the t allest lett ers in t he w or 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

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WALKING IN THE CITY IvA LKING IN THE CITI,

93

g11 Vct.yt v.vo r w aI k er' 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 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 e i n i t , I w o n d e rw h a t i s t h e s o u r c eo f t h i s p l e a s u r e of "seeing t h e w h o l e , "o f l o o k i n g d o w n o n , 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 . To b e l ifte d t o the sum mit of the W orld Trade Ce nter is to b e l ifte d o ut of the cit y 's gras p. One's body is no lon g er cla sp edby th e stre ets th ;i i ui l'a n d r et urn it ac c ording ro an anon ymou s la rv; n or is it po ss ess e d, whe t her as play er or play ed,by t he rumb le o f so ma ny di ffere nces an d b y the ner vous ness of N ew York traffic . Wh en on e g oe su p the re,h e l ea v esbe h in d t he mas sthat c arriesof f and mixes u p i n itse lfan y id en ti ty o f aut ho r s or s pec tators .An lc arus fly ing abo ve th ese wate rs,he can 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 below. His el ev at ion trans figureshi m into a voyeur. l t pu ts h im a t a di stanc e. I t t ra ns forms the bewit ching w orl d by w hich o ne was "po sse ised" in to a t ex t that li es before one'sey es.It al l ows o ne to re ad it, to 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 g no s tic driv e: t he fic t ion o[ k nowledge is re la te d to thi s l ust to b e a v i e w p o i n ta n d n o i n i n g m o r e . M u s t o n e finally fal l bac k into the dark sp ace w he re crow ds move bac k and fo r t h, c rowds that, though v is iblefrom on hi gh , are the msel ves 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 n the f a l l . O n l t O t h f l o o r ,a poster, 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 e to the pedestrian who is for an in s tant tr an sformed into a v is ionarv: It' s ha rd to be d ow,n whe n .l,ou'reup. Th e desi ret o s eet he cit y prec eded t he mea n so f sa tisfying i t. Me di eval painters represented o r Renaiss a nce tha t t he ci ty as se enin a pe rsp ecti ve no ey e h a d y et enjoy ed.2This fic ti on alrea dy made the me di eva lspe ct ato r int o a ce les tial eye. lt c reated gods. Have thi ng s ch an ge dsin ce po wer" ?l Th e to ta li zt ec h n ical p r oc ed ureshav e organiz -ed an "all-seei ng i ng e y e im agi ned by t he painters of earlier ti mes l iveson i n o ur achi evem e n ts . The s ame sc opic driv e haunt s us er s of a rchi te ctura lpro ductio ns by mat er ializ ing today t he utopia that yeste rda ywa s o nl y pa inte d.Th e 1 370fo o t hig h t ower that s erv esas a prow fo r Marfha tta nco nti nue sto c o ns tr uc t th e f ic tion that c reates compl exity readers , ma kes the of the cit y readable, te xt. i nd im mobiliz -es it s opaquem ob ili ty in a tran sp are nt 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 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. hefacs im ile n rorl'-'c ed throrrgh a. projecti on th at i s a way o f ke epi ng

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 . he

panorama-city ( 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 is a "theoretical" 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 t""d ltr_9 { _ pr a g! i9 es.The voyeur-god cr eat edby t his f ict ion, w ho, li ke S ch reb er' s G o d, knows only cadav er s. u m us t disent anglehim self f rom themurky intertwining dailybehaviors a n d m a k e h i m s e l fa l i e n t o t h e m . Th e o rdina ry pr act iti onersof t he c it y l ive "dow n bel ow , " below t he thre sh ol ds a t wh ic h visibil it y begins.T hey w al k-an elem ent aryfor m of thi s e xp eri enceo f t he ci ty : they are walker s. ll /ander srnii nner, whose 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 b ei ng a bl e t o r tu dl t- fit ese pr act it i oners t hat cannot m ake use of spac es 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 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 -

ni ze d p oe ms i n w hich each body is an elem entsignedby m any ot hers . e lud _g l egi b _ il it y. It is as t hough t he pr act icesor ganizi nga bust li ng ci ty we re ch ara ct er ized by t hei r bl indness. 'T he netw orks of t hese m ov ing, r1te1 1g ct inwr g i ti ngs com posea m anif old st or y t hat has nei ther aut hor no r spe cta t or , sh apedout of f ragm ent sof tr aject or ies and alt erat ionsof sp aces: in r el at ion t o r epr esent at ions. it r em ains dail y and indef init ely othe r. produc edby t he eye.the every day E sca pi n g th e i magi nar yt ot al izat ions hai a iertalnTtrari-fe-ni:si itrat does not surface,or whose surface is only its up pe r limi t, o ut l ining it selfagainstthe vi sible.Wi thin this ensem ble, I 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 s or t h a t a r e f o r e i g nt o t h e " g e o m e t r i c a l " " g e o g r a p h i c a ls " p a c e o 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 l constructions. Thesepracticbs-6fspacerefer to a specificform of operariorrs("ways of (un "anthropological." p o e t i ca n d operating"), t o " a n o t h e rs p a t i a l i t y " u mythi c ex per i ence o f space), and t o an opaqueand blind nr obil it y char a cteri stico f t he bus t ling,c it y,A nr igrat ional,or m et aphorical.cit y t hus sli psin to the cle ar tex t of t he plannedand readable cit y.

l. Front the conceptof the citt' to urban pra(tircs

The Wo rld Tr ad e C ent eri s onl y the m ost m onument alf igure of West ern urb an de ve lo pm ent . The at opiq-ut opia of opt ical know ledge has long ha d th e a m bi ti on of surm ount ing and art ic ulat ing t he cont radict ions

ari sin gfrom u rb an agglom erat ion, lt i s a quest ionof m anaginga gr ow t h "The o f hu ma n ag gl om erat ion ac cumulat ion. or ci ty i s a huge monast e r ! , . "s a i d E r a s m u s P . e r s p e c t i vv ei 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

94 WA L KING IN THE CITY s ur face t h at c an be dealt w ith. T hey inaug ura te(in the si xtee nthcen tury?) the transformation of the urban into the concepr of a city. .fact Long b e fore t he conc ept its elf giv esris e to a pa rti cu la r fi gure o f hi story. it assumes that this fact can be dealt with as a u n i t y d e t e rmined by an ur ball st rc Link ing t he c ity to t he concep t i ie ve i rna kts-the m ry 1io. 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 e symbiosis: to plan a city is both t o th ink the very pluralit y of the real and to ma ke tha t wa y o f t lr inki ng the plural e.ffec tiv e; i t is to k now ho w to articul ate it and be ableto do it.

WA L K ING I N TH E C I TY

95

to be re in tr o duced int o adm inis tr at iv e cir cuit s and t ransf or m s even d eficie ncie s ( in h ealt h,securit y,etc .) into ways of m aking the netw orks o f ord er d en se r .But i n realit y, it r epeat edly producesef fect scont rar y ro th ose at wh ich i t ai ms: t he pr ofi t syst emgenerat es a loss whic h, in r he mu ltip le fo r ms o f w ret chedness and pover ty outs ide t he syst emand of w aste i nsid e it , co nst antl yt urns product ion into "expendi tur e. " M oreove r, the r a ti on aliza tionof t he cit y leadst o it s r nyt hi fi cati on st rat egic i n d isco urses, whi ch ar e calculat ions basedon t he hypot hesis or the necessity of i ts d estr uct ionin order t o arr ive at a f inal decis ion. e Finally, t he

An oper a tional c onc ept? The "ci ty" f oun ded by ut opian and urban istic d isco urse ti s d efin ed b y th e pos s ib ilityof a threef old operation: l. Th e pro duc tion of i ts own spac e (un e sp acepro pre): ra ti on al or ganiz atio n m ust t hus repress all the physica l, me ntal an d pol iti cal 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 e i t ; 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 , for the indet e rm i na ble and s tubborn res is tanc es of fe red b y trad itio ns;un ivocal sc ie n tif ics trategies , made pos s ibleby the fla tten in go ut of al l th e da ta i n a p la n e p r oje c tion, mus t replac ethe tac ti cs of u serswho take ad va ntag e o f "o p p o rt u nit ies" and who, through t he se tra p-e ve nts,th esel apsesi n vis ibili ty , rep roduc ethe opac itiesof his t or y e ve rywh ere ; 3 . fi n al ly, the c reat ion of a univers aland a n onymo ussu bi eclwh ich is the c ity it s elf: it gradual ly bec omespos si bl et o attrib ute to it, a s to its poli tic al m odel, Hobbes 'Stat e,all the f uncti onsand pre di ca te s tha t w ere pr e vi ous ly s c attered and as s igned to ma ny di ffere nt rea l su bj ects,r individuals. " 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 , g r o u p s ,a s s o c i a t i o n so ' p r ov id e s a w ay of c onc eiv ing and cons tru cti n g sp ace o n the ba si s of a f in ite num ber of s table,is olatable, prop ertie s. and interco n nected A d minis tration is c ombined wi th a pro ce ss o f el imin atio ni n thi s pl ace organiz ed by " spec ulativ e" and c las s ifi ca to ryop era ti on s.tOn the on e hand, t h er e is a dif ferent iationand redistri buti ono f th e parts a nd fu nct ions of the c ity , as a result of inv ers ions, d isp la ce me nts, a ccumul atio ns, e tc .; on t he ot her t here is a rejec tionof everythi ngtha t i s n ot capa bl eo f bei ng dealt w ith in t his w ay and s o c onstitu te s the " waste pro du cts"of a f unc ti onali s t admi ni st rat ion (abnormality,de vi an ce , i ll ne ss, de ath, etc.). To G s ;r e, -progi6s s attow s ani nc reas in gnumb er of th esew astepi oa u.tt

f u n c t i o n a l i so t r g a n i z a t i o nb , y privileging progress ( i . e . . t i m e ) , c a u s e s t h e con di ti o n of it s o wn possibil it y-space it self -t o be f orgot t en. spac e thu s b eco me s the bli nd spot in a scient if ic poli ti cal and t ec hnology. T hi s i s the wa y i n w hich t he Concept- cit y f unc ti ons; place a of t ransf or mat 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 a lso a su bj ectthat is const ant lyenr ichedby new at t ribut es,i t is s im ul tan eo usly,t he m ach ineryand t he her o of m odernit y.

To da y, wh at everthe avat arsof this conc ept m ay hav e been,we have to acknowledge that if in discourse the city s e r v e s a s a t o t a l i z i n ga n d a lmost myt hi ca l la ndm ar k for socioeconom ic poli ti cal st rategies, and u rba n li fe in cr e asingly per m it s the re- em ergenc of e t he elementt hat t he u rba ni sticpr o ject excluded.The l anguage of pow er is in it self "urbanizi ng ," bu t th e cit y is lef t prey to contr adic tor y movem ent st hat count erb al ancea nd com bine t hem selv es out side the reach of panopti c pow er . The city b ecom est he domi nant t heme in polit ical legends,but it i s no l on ger a fi el d of p rogr am m ed and regul at ed oper at ions. Beneat h t he d iscou rse t sha t i de ologize t he cit y, t he rusesand com binati onsof pow er s tha t h ave n o r eadableidenti ty prolif erat e:w it hout poi nt s w her e one c an take ho ld o f th em , wit hout rat ional t r ansparency. t hey are im poss ible to administer.

The return of practices

Tlg is decaying. Does that mean that the illness afflicting Qgl.gpj:gilY bo th th e r at io na lity tt rai f ounded i t and it s prof essionals af fl ict s t he urb an p opu la ti on sas w el l? Perhapsc it ies ar e deteri or ati ngalong w it h the pro ce dur e s t hat organizedt hem. But w e m us t be car ef ul here. T[ e mi ni ster sof know ledge have always assum edthat the whole univers e

96 W'A LKING IN THE CITY WALKING IN THE CITI' was t hreate ne d by the v ery c hangesthat affecte dth ei r i de ol og ie s a nd 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 th e or ie s of m is fortune. When t hey trans form th ei r b ewi ld ermen tin to "catastrophes," 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 th ei r d isc ourse s, are t hey onc e m ore necessa ril ri y gh t? Rat h e r th an remaining w ithin the field o f a d isco urse th at up hol ds its p ri vil eg e b y inv erting its c ontent (s peak in go f catastro phe a nd no lon ge r of progress), 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 rp a t h : o n e ca n anal yze t he mic robe-lik e, s ingular a nd p lura l pra cticesw hi ch a n 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 , ut which hav e out liv ed i ts dec ay ; one can f ol low t he swarmi ng acti vi ty o f th ese pr o cedur es that, f ar from being regulat ed or el imin ated by p ano pti c a d minis tr ati on,hav e reinforc edthem selv e s i n a pro li fe ratin gi ll eg itimacy, deve lo p e d and ins inuated thems elv es into th e ne tworks o f survei ll an ce , and combined in accordwith unreadable b u t s t a b l et a c t i c st o t h e p o i n t o f co n s tit ut in g ev ery day regulati ons and surre ptitio uscre ativitie s th at a re m er ely c onc ealedby the f rant ic mec ha ni sms an d di scourses o f th e ob s e rv a tiona lorgani zati on. , ut al so as th e T hi s pat hw ay c ould be ins c ribed as a co nse qu en ceb rec ipr oc al, o f .F ouc aul t'sanaly s isof t he structu reso f p owe r. H. moved i t in the d irec t ion of mec hanis msand techni ca l pro ce du res,"mi no r ins tr um e n talit ies "c apabl e, merely by the i r o rg ani za ti ono f "de tail s,"of 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 managing, differentiating, classifying, and hierarchizing all deviances 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 I o f ten mi ni sc ule rus es of dis c ipline," these "mi nor bu t fl awl ess"mecha an d n ism s, draw their ef fic ac y from a relat io nsh ipb etwee nproced ure s in order to makean "operator"outof it. 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 e B u t what spa tial prat'ti ces c orrespond, i n th e are a wh ere d iscip li neis In that pro d uce a d isci pl in aryspa ce ? m a n ip u la ted , to thes eapparat uses th e the p r esen tco njunc ture,whic h i s mark ed by a con tra di ctio nbetwe en c ollec tiv e mode of adminis tration and an i nd ivid ua l mod e o f re ap pro p r iati on, t his quest ion is no l es s important, i f on e ad mi ts tha t sp atia l pr a ct ice s in fac t s ecretlyst ruct ure the dete rmin in gco nd itio ns o f socia l lif e. I would lik e to foll ow out a f ew of the se mu lti fo rm. re si stan ce . tr ic ky and s tubborn procedurest hat elude d iscip li newi th ou t b ei ng o uts id e f iel d in w hic h it is ex ercis ed,an d whi ch sh ou ld le ad us to a th e famil ia rity of liv ed s p ace,o f the di sq ui etin g i theory o [ ev er yday prac tic es , ' of the citv.

91

2. The chorus of idle.footsteps

"T he goddess can be recogniz ed by her st ep" V i r g i l ,A e n e i d , l , 4 0 5

The ir sto ry b egi nson ground level,w it h f oot st eps .T hey ar e m yr iad, but each unit has do n ot com po sea seri es They cannot be counted because . a qu al itat ivecharact er:a st yle of t act ile apprehensi onand k ines thet ic ap prop riati on . T hei r swar mi ng mass is an innum erabl e collect ion of They si ng ul arit ie s. Th eir int er t wined paths give t heir shape t o spaces. w ea veplaces I n t hat respect .pedes tr ianm ovement sf orm one' t og et her . whoseexi stence in fact makesup t he cit y. "" Tl't . y of the se"r ea l sy stem s aii no t t oi ai ized; it is r at her they t hat spati al ize.They are no mor e

sketch speakers insertedwithin a containerthan those Chinesecharacters o ut o n the ir ha ndswit h their f inget t ips. It is truethat the operations o 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 i n such a wa y as t o t rans cri bet hei r pat hs (herewell -t rodden,t her e ver y ( going t hi s w ay and not t hat ). But t hes ethic k fai nt) an d t he ir tr aj ect or ies of w hat has'pas sed o r th in cur vesonl y'r ef er,li ke w ords, to t he absenc e b y. S urveysof rout es m iss what was: the act i ts el f of pass ingby. The 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 a ctivity of p ass er s- by, is t r ansf orm edint o poi nt s t hat dr aw a t ot al izing

li ne on t he m ap. T hey al low us t o grasponly a relic set in a nd re ve r si ble the n owh en o f a s urf ac eof pr oj ec ti on. lt self v isible, it has t he ef f ect of making i nvisibl e t he operat ion that m ade it possi bl e.T hese f ixati ons f or f or get t ing,The t race lef t behind is subst it uted co nsti tu tepr oced ur es

for the practice.[t exhibits the (voracious)property that the geographical h 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 system so i t cau se s a way of beingi n the w orld t o be for got t en.

Pedestrian speechacts

A comp ar i so nwit h t he speec hact wil l allow us t o go f urt her r2and not alone, look ing l imi t o ur selves t o the cr it ique of graphic repr esent at ions beyond. The ac t of from the shor eso f legi bi lit y tow ar d an i nacc es sible wa lkin g is t o the urban syst emwhat t he speechact is t o languageor t o

At t he m ost el em entar ylevel, it has a f f iiple the sta t em en ts ut tered. 13 "enunciative" function: it is a process of appropriation of the topogra ph ic al syst em on t he par t of t he pedes tr ian (ust as t he speaker

98 WALKING IN TH E CITY a p p r opr iat es and tak es on the language) ;it is a spa ti al acti ng -ou tof the place fiust as the speechact is an acousticiCiinfonTitT iarigu@); and it im pl ies r elat ion s among differentiat ed positi on s,tha t is, amon g pra gm a t ic "c ont rac t s" in the form of m ovem ents(u st a s ve rba l e nun ci atio n is a n " al loc u ti on," "pos its another oppo sit e" th e sp ea keran d p uts co ntr a ct s bet w ee n interloc ut ors into ac tion) .roIt thu s se emspo ssi bl e to g ive a p r el im i nar y definition of walk ing as a sp aceof e nu ncia ti on . We co uld m oreov er ex tend t hi s problematicto the re la ti on sb etwee n the act of writing and the written text, and even transpose it to the re li tio n ships between the " hand'; lthe to uch an d the ta le o f th e p ai ntbrush er la ge.steA;"i;";raul) painting (forms, and the finished lte colors, etc.). At first isolated in the area-of vGibil-comiirtiriibation, the speec ha ct t u rns out to f ind only one of i ts ap p li ca ti on s there ,a nd i ts li ng u ist ic m o da lity is m erel y t he f irst determin a tio no f a mu ch more ge ne ra l distinction between the used in a system and itre wayJ of using forms th is s ys tem (i. e., rules ), that is, betw een two "d iffere nt worl ds," si nce "th e sa m e t hings " are c onsidered f rom tw o opp o si teformal vi ew poi nts. Co n si dered from this angle, the pedestria n spe echa ct h as thre e ch arac te r is ticsw hic h dis ti nguis h it at t he ou tse t fro m th e sp atia lE ystem: the p re s e nt ,t he dis c ret e,the "phatic ." Fir s t, if i t is t rue that a s pat ial order org an ize s an en semb le of p ossi 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., by a wall that prevents one from going further), then the wii[er actualiz es som e of t hese pos si bi lities .l n t hat way, h e makesthe m e xist a s we ll as e mer ge. But he als o m ov es t hem about a nd he in ve nts othe rs,si nce the cr ossin g,drifti ng aw ay , or improv isat io nof w al ki ng p rivil eg e, tran sfo r m o r a bandon s patial elements .Thu s C ha rli e Ch ap li n mri tli pi ie sthe po s si bi li ti esof his c ane: he does other th in gs wi th th e samethi ng an d h e goes b e yond the limit s that the determi nan ts o f the ob je ct se t on i ts u til izat ion. I n the s ame w ay, the l vaf kel 1g 1 s[o rms e ach sp atia lsig ni fi er i nt o s o met hing els e.And if on the one han d h e a ctua li ze s on ly a few of t he p o ss ibilitiesfix ed by t he c onst ruct edord er (he go es on ly h ere an d n ot t her e), on t he ot her he i ncreas esth e nu mbe r o f po ssib il itie s(fo r ex am p le , by c reating s hortc uts and det ou rs) an d pro hib iti ons (fo r exa mple, he f orbids hims elf t o tak e path s gen era ll yco nsid ered a cce ssib le "The user o f a ci ty p icks I o r euen o bligatory ). He thus mak esa sel ectio n. i out certain fragments of the statement in order to actualize them in isecret."l5 .. , .. i. w het he r by ma kin g choi ce sa mo ng the He thus c reat esa dis c retenes s,

WALKING IN THE CITI'

99

'I"

, ',

spatial "language" or by displacingthem through the use signifiers9f .t_h.. h e ma kes o f t hem . H e condem nscert ain placesto iner t ia or disappear*it t 't ot hers s pat ial"t ur ns of phrase"t hat are "rar e, " a nce an d com poses " accid en ta l"or ill egi ti mat e. But t hat al ready leads int o a r het ori c of w al kin g. -Ii i . relat ionto Th- e f ra me work of enunciat ion,the w al ker c onst it ut es in h is posit io n,b oth a near and a f ar, a here and a there. To t he fact t hat the a dver bsh er e and i her e are t he indi cator s of t he l oc ut ionary seat in verba l co mm unicat ion'u- a coinci dencet hat reinf or cest he paralleli sm be tw ee nl in gu ist ic and pedest r ianenunciat ion-w e must add that this im plied by walki ng and indicat iveof lo ca ti on ( her e -t her e) (necessari ly 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 a 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 g part icuar t iculat ionof places.I w oul d st ress co nj un ct ive and disjunct ive la rly th e "p ha tic- "aspec t,by whic h I m ean the f unct ion, is ol at ed by Ma li nowski an d J akobson,of term s that init iat e, m aintain, or inter rupt 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 foi tows a pa th and has f ol lowers , cr eat esa m obi le organi cit y in t he . nd if it is true that the phatic e f p h a t i c t o y s o iA e n v i r o n m e n ta , s e q u e n co fun cti on, wh ichli an ef f or t t o ensur ecom m unic at ion.is al readychar ac teri stic of t he lang uageof talk ing bi rds, just as it const it ut esthe "f ir st verb al f un ct ion a cquir ed by c hi ldr en, " i t is not sur pr isi ng t hat it als o 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 o 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 h e a v ys t e p ,l i k e a s e r i e s parallel touip{o.rmative speech. enunciat ionw hi ch a pl ane represent at iott The moi ia li t iesof pedest ri an 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 rel atio n shipth is enunciat ionentert ainsw it h par t icular paths ( or "st ateme nts") b y according t hem a tr uth value ("alet hi c" m odalit ies of the , n epistemo, r t h e c o n t i n g e n t )a th necessary , e i m p o s s i b l et,h e ' p o s s i b l eo l og ical va lu e (" epist em ic"m odal it ies of t he c er t ai n, t he exc luded. the or fi nall y an ethic al or legal value ("defla usib le , o r t he quest ionable) o ntic" mo da li t iesof t he obl igat ory ,the f orbidden, t he perm it t ed,or t he respect s. , t ries out , t r ansgress es o ptio n a l) .' t Walk ing af f ir ms , suspect s, etc., the trajdctciiiesii "speaks." All the modalities sing a part in this E hri iu s,cha ngin g f rom st ep t o st ep, st eppi ng in t hrough proport ions . w hich vary acc or di ng t o t he ti me, t he path se qu e n ce s, . , nd i nt ensi ti es taken an d t he wa lker. T heseenunciat oryoperat ionsar e of an unlim it ed to t heir gr aphict rail . cannot be reduc ed di ve rsi ty. Th ey t heref or e

r00
WALKING IN THE CITY WA LK ING IN THE C I TY

l0l

Walking rhetorics F Th e wa lk in g of pas sers -byoffers a s eriesof tu rns (tou rs) a nd d etou rs th a t c an b e c om pared to "turns of phras e" o r "styl isti cfi gure s."The re is a r h e tor ic o f w alk ing. The art of "turning" ph ra ses fin ds an eq ui va le nt in an a rt of c om pos ing a path (t ourner un p a rcou rs). Li ke ord in ary la ngu a g e ,' et his a rt implies and c ombiness ty l esan d u se s._t4-p .cifie s "a linguist ic s t ruc ture t hat m ani fes tson t he symbo li c l eve l . . . a n i nd ivid ua l' s f und a m ental w ay of bei ng in the worl d" ;zoi t con no te sa sin gu la r. Us e d ef ines t he s oc ial phenomenon t hroug h whi ch a syste m of co mfiiinication manifests itself in actual fact; it refers to a norm. Style and u se bot h have to do w ith a "w ay of operat ing " (of spe akin g,wa lkin g, et c. ), b u t s ty le inv ol ves a pec uliar proc essi ng o f the symbo li c,wh il e u se r efe r s to e l em ent sof a c ode. T hey int ers e ctto fo rm a style of u se ,a wa y 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 I n intr oduc ing the not ion of a "res iding rhe to ric" ("rh etori qu eh ab it an t e" \, the fe rtile pathway openedup by n. Mecia in 22 an d systemati zed b y S . O s tr ow et rk y " and J .-F . Augoyard , 2'we a ssume tha t the " tro pes" c ata lo g u edb y rhet ori c f urni sh models and hypo the se s fo r th e a nal ysis of way s o f appr opriating plac es.Tw o pos tu l ates see mto me to un de rl ieth e va lid it y o f t h is applic ation: l ) it is as sume dtha t p racti ce s of spa ceal so correspond to manipulations of the basic elementsof a constructedorder; 2) i t is ass u med that they are, lik e the tro pe s i n rh etori c, d evia ti on s r e la tiv e to a s ort of " literal m eaning" de fin ed b y th e u rba ni sticsystem. Th e r e wo u ld t hus be a homology betw eenverb al fi gu resa nd th e fi gu res of wa lk in g (a s t yli zed s el ec ti onamong t he l atte r i s a lre ad yfou nd i n the 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 " or operations b e a r i n go n i s o l a t a b l e units,25 and in "ambiguous d i s p o s i t i o n st"h a t d i v e r t 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 i 2 n 6t h e w a y a t r em u lo u s image conf us es and multipli es th e ph otog raph edo bj ect. In thes e t wo m od es , the analogy c an be accepted .I wo ul d ad d tha t th e geom e tr i c als pac eof urbanis tsand arc hi te ctsse ems to ha ve the sta tuso f in o rde r th e "p r oper m eaning" c ons truct edby grammar ia ns a nd li ng ui sts to have a normal and normative level to which they can compare the "proper" meandrifting of "figurative" languagb. In reality, this faceless

The long p_oem o 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 , no 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 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 recei ve its id in ti ty fr om t hem ). I t cr eat es wi thin shadow sand am bigui ti es 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 s r e f e r e n c e s and citationsinto them (so ci almo de ls,cult ural mor es ,per sonalf ac tor s).Wit hin t hem it is it self th e effect o f su ccessi ve t hat const ant-d.8aiei.' lyalt er i t and oc casions enc ount er s and make it the other's blazon: in other rvords. it is like ^ , ca rryin g so me things urpris ing,t r ansver se or at tr act ive c om pared w it h th e usua l ch oi ce.T hesediver seaspect sprovide the bas is of a rhet or ic. They can even be said to define it. as i t appearsin B y a na lyzin g t his "m oder n art of everydayexpression" accou nt so f sp at ial pract ices, t * J. -F. Augoyard di scernsin it tr vo es peand asy ndet on.The precia ll y fu nd am ent alsty list icf igures:synecdoche d omin an ceo f thes etw o fi gures seem sto me t o indicat e.in r el at ion to poles,a f or m al st ruct ureof t hes epract ic es .S. t 'ner 'two com pl em en tary 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 i t nam esa part inst eadof t he mea ni ngo f th e s am e wor d. "2eI n essence. wh ol e wh i ch i nc ludesit . Thus "s ai l" is t ak en f or "ship" in t he expressi on "a fl bet of f if ty s ails";in t he sam e w ay, a br ick shel teror a hill i s t aken is t he suppresfor the p ar k i n the nar rat ion of a t r aj ect ory .As. t 'ndet on e i t h e rw i t h i n a and adverbs, 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 s and In t he sam eway, i n walk ing i t select s o r be tw eensent enc es. se nten ce it s kips over l inks and w hole par ts t hat it fra gmen tst he spacet r aver sed; o r s k i p sl i k e leaps, 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 y t he el lipsisof c onjunct ive/oci . a chi ld , ho ppi ng on one f oot . It pract ices exIn real it y, thes e tw o pedest rianfi gures ar e relat ed. Synecdoche pa nds a sp at ialelem entin order t o m ake i t play t he r ole of a "m ore" ( a to ta li ty) an d t ake it s place( t he bic ycleor t he pieceof f urnit ur e in a st ore w in do w st an ds f or a w hole st reet or neighborhood) . Asyndet on, by e li si on ,cr ea te s a "le ss, "opensgaps in t he spat ialconti nuum , and r et ains only selectedparts of it that amount almost to relics. Synecdocherep la cest ot al it iesby fr agm ent s(a / essi n the place of a nt or e); asy ndet on

ing (c'e"propre" sans.figure\ cannotbe found in currentuse,whether by a usethat is verbal pedestrian, the fiction produced it is merely or itself that distinguishes useof sciefice the meialinguistic also particular, b y t h a t v e r yd i s t i n c t i o n . 2 T

d iscon ne ct sth em by el im inat ing t he conj unct ive or t he consecut ive (no th in g i n pl ace of somet hing) .Synec doche makes m ore dens e:it am pl ifi es the de tail and m iniat uriz es the w hole. Asyndeton c ut s out : it un do esco nt in uit y and under cut si ts plausibili ty .A spac etr eat edin t his

way a nd sh aped by pract icesis t ransf or med int o enl ar ged singul ar iT hr ough t hese swell ings ,shri nki ngs, and ti es an d sep ara teislands. s0

t02
IYALKING IN THE CITY WALKING IN THE CITI' f ragm e n t at ions , that is , through thes e rh etorical o pera ti on s a spa ti al p h r as in go f a n analogical (c ompos ed of juxta posedcitatio nslan ai itip ti ca l (m ade of g aps , i ipses , and allus ions ) typ e i s cre ated .For the techn il l og ic a l sy st em of a c oherent and totali zin g sp ace th at i s "l in ke d" a nd s im ul taneou s , the f igures of pedest rianr hetor ic sub stitute tra je ctori es' ' l myth " a that h a ve a m y thi cal s truc ture, at leas t if one un de rstan ds b y dis co u r serel at iv e to the plac e/nowhere(or o rigi n) of con crete existe nce, a s t o r yj e r r y - b u i l t o u t o f e l e m e n t s t a k e n f r o m c o m m o n s a y i n g sa , n allus iv e a n d fr ag mentary s tory whos e gaps m e sh wi th the socia lp racti ces it symbolizes. Flg-greq are the acts of this stylistic metamorphosisof space.Or rather, as Rilk e put s i t, they are mov ing "treesof g e stu res." Th ey move eve nthe ri gi d and c ontriv ed territ ori es of the med ico-p ed ago gi cailnsti tu te i n whic h r e tarded c hildren find a place to pl ay an d d an ce th ei r "sp atia l s tor ie s. "3 rT he se " trees of gest ures " are i n mo ve menteveryw he re. Th ei r for es ts walk through the st reet s .They tra nsform the scene ,bu t the y c anno t b e f ix ed in a c ertain plac e by i ma ges.l f in spi te o f tha t an il lu syel lo wi sht rat ion were required, w e c ould m ention the fl ee ti ng imag es, g r een a nd met allic blue c alligraphiest hat howl with out ra isin g the ir v o ic e s a nd emblaz -onthems elv eson the sub te rran ea np assa ge s o f the c it y, "e mbr oideries " c ompos ed of letter s an d numbe rs, p erfectgestu res of violencepainted with a pistol, Shivas made of written characters, dan c in g gra phic s whos e f leeting appari ti on s a re acco mp an ie dby the r um b le o f s ub way t rains : New York graffi ti. If it is true that .fore.st'iof-lrsrures ^r. manifest in the streets,their m o vem en t cannot be c apt ured in a pic tu re , nor ca n the me ani ngof the ir m o v e ments be ci rcums c ribedin a t ext . Th ei r rhe toricaltra nspl anta ti on c ar r ie s away and dis plac est he analy tical ,coh ere ntprop er me an in gsof p rod uced b y ur b a ni sm ; it c ons tit ut es a "w andering of th e seman ti c" r2 othe rs, an d e xag ge rate mas se s t hat ma ke som e parts of the c ity disap pe ar , d is tor ting it, f ragmentingit, and div ert ing i t fro m its i mmob il e o rde r.

r03

a ppro pri at ei nvent or yf or t he rhet or ic of t he fi rst tr vo regist ers of expressi on is eq ua ll yva l id fo r t he t hi rd. lf t here is a par allelis m,it is not only

be ca use e n un ci atio nis dom inant in t hesethr ee ar eas ,but also because ( ve r bal iz ed, its d iscu rsive dr eam ed.or walked) dev el opm ent i s organi zed as a re la ti on be tweenthe place f rom which it pr oceeds(an origin) and (a way of "going by "). the n owh er eit p r oduces processes 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 n to linguistic f 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 of on ei ric f ig ur at ion, or at least di scoveron that ot her s ide w hat , in a sp atia l pra ct ice,is in separable fr om the dream ed place. To w al k i s t o of 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 s o f b e i n g a b s e n ta n d i n s e a r c h 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 of lack ing a plac e- an ma kei th e ci ty it sel fan im m ensesocialexper ience t iny depor t at ions exp eri en oe t ha t is ,- io b. , ur. , broken up int o count less (d ispl acem en ts f or by t he relat ions hi psand and walks ), c om pens at ed intersections o 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 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 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 d b y t h i s p l a c ei s 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 , a c i t i z e n sp ' ositions a 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 y

t r a f f i c ,a n e t w o r k o f r e s i d e n c ets by pedestrian e m p o r a r i l ya p p r o p r i a t e d shu ffli ng a mo ng pr et ens es of the proper . a univers e of r ent ed s paces h aun tedb y a no wher eor by dr eam ed- ofpl ac es .

Name sa n d symbol s

r)-r

e n t e r t a i nw i t h t h a t s p a t i a lp r a c t i c e s 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 p th at a lsg l rg i s f ur nished pr ec iselyby t hei r manipul at ions of and w it h "pro pe r" n am es.T he relat ionships betw eent he direct ion of a w alk (/ e

3 . M y t h s : w h a t " m o k e sl h i n g sg o " el li pses, e tc.) ch ara cteri ze Th e fig u res of thesem ov ement s(sy necdoche s, both a "symbolic order of the unconscious"and "certain typical processes of subjectivity manifested in discourse."rr The similarity between"dis,, c our s e" s oa nd dream sl s has to do wit h th ei iu se-o ittt. si mL " ityl isti c ---*..* proi.au.es"; it includes pedestrian praitices as well. The "antherefore has furnished an that fiom Freud to Benveniste , cient .uiiiog of i;;;;;;'

sensc!1 lno1l situate sensde Ia ntarche) and ,the meaning of words (_le one ex tr ov er t( to w al k is t o twJio rti of up pur ent lycont rary m ovem ent s. g o ou tsid e) ,th e oth er int rovert (a m obil it y under t he st abil it y of t he sig ni fi er). Wal ki ng is i n f act deter mi ned by semant ic t r opism s; it is a ttracte d a nd r epel led by nomi nat ions w lt ose m eani ng is not c lear , wh ere ast he cit y, f or it s part , is t ransf or m ed for m any people into a "d esert"in w hi ch the m eaningless, indeedt he terr if ying,no longer t akes the fo rm o f shadowsbut bec om es,as i n Genet 'splays, an im pl acable

w hi ch is cr eat ed li gh t tha t pr o ducesthis ur ban t ext w it hout obs curit ies, by a techno cr a ticpow er everyw her eand whic h puts t he ci ty -dwell er u nd er co nt r ol ( under t he cont r ol of w hat ? N o one k now s): "The cit y

t04
VVA I.KING IN THE CITY' WA LK ING IN THE CI TI ' k ee p s us u nd er its gaze, w hi ch one c ann ot be a r witho ut fe el in g di zzy," 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 s brutally l i t b y a n a l i e n r e a son, 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 . hey " 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 v o cati on s a nd calls t hat turn or div ert an iti nera ry gi vi ng i t a mea ni ng ' by ( o r a d ir ect io n) (.ren.r) that was prev iousl yun fo resee n. The sena me scre ate a n o whe r e in plac es ;they c hangethem into passa ge s. 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 , to war d t he rue des Saints -Pire.r and the ru e de S ?r' re s, e ve nth ou gh he i s 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 s articulate a 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 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 magneticfield of trajectories j 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 friend unconsciously r e p r e s s ets he streets w h i c h h a v e n a m e sa n d , b y t h i 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 a n d c l a s s i f i c a t i o n .s sh ; 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 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 y by proper names. 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 nts hat 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 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 ew o r d s ( Bor rd g c .t I , lotz ari.r, Bougaint ,ille.. . ) s l ow ly lo se , li ke wo rn coi ns, th e on th9m, but their ability to si g ni fy ou tl ivesi ts fi rst d efiy3!9 _ e ry1 1y gd niti orr . S r rin /.1'Pi re: ;,Corentin Celton, R eclS q ua re... the sen amesmake \ them s e lv esav ailable to the div ers em eani ngsgi ve n the m by pa sserr-by: ', th e y det a ch t he ms elves from the plac esth ey we re su ppo se d to de fi nea nd \ 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 s on itineraries which, as metaphors, 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 v l aluebrjt I r noy b e re cogniz -ed or not by pas sers - by. A stra ng e to po nymy th at i s deta c h e d f rom act ual places and flies hi gh o ver the ci ty li ke a fog gy 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 nd , irectingthe physical deambulations below: Pla<'e de l'Etoile, Conc'orde, Poissonniire. . . These c on st ellationsof nam es provide tra ffi c p attern s:the y a re stars air - .c ti; g if ineraries. " The Plac e de l a C on cord e do es n ot exist," Malaparte said, "it is an idea."lt lt is much more than an "idea." A whole s eri es of c omparis ons w ould be n ecessary to a ccou nt for th e I m agica l po wers proper namesenj oy. The y se emto b e ca rri eda s embl ems : by the travellers t h e y d i r e c t a n d s i m u l t a n e o u s ld ye c o r a t e .

r05

L in ki ng a ct s and f oots teps,openi ng m eaningsand dir ect ions,these l of i 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 y that can be occupied. 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 s rarefaction, g i v e st h e m . b y m e a r r s of a semantic A rich indetermination a 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 the functionof articulating . hey insinuate geography o 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 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 . Wa lki ng foll ow s t he m: "l f ill this gr eat enr pt y space wi t h a beaut if ul name."38 P 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 in g, an d som et i m esby their w ast e pr oduct s, t he inver ted r em ainder si T 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 , ; o f g r e a ta m b i t i o n s . ' n preciselt yo t h a t h a v ec e a s e d n :a n l e s a n d o r i e n tw a l k e r s ' s t e p s sym-bolize be "p rop er ." functions k 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 ) I n t h e s es y m b o l i z i n g o f the rel at io nsbe tweenspati al and signif ying pract icesar e indicat ed and t he pr irr rit il e. t he nr ert tor ahle, (an d p erh ap s fo unde d) :the heliet'ahle. spatial possible or credible) (or nrakes what "authorizes" They designate in them)from a in them (or is recalled a p p r o p r i a t i o n sw . hat is repeated in them and cons 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 d ori gi n. Thes et hree sym bol ic ti nu esto b e sig ne dby an in- fant ile(i n- lan.r ) o 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 mechanisms dr eam ) in a w ay t hat also eludesur banist icsyst em at ic it y. *..no ry, " nd Tfri!-firn atrei.f-6e recognizedin the functions of proper names: they t he pl ac et hat t hey clot he w it h a rvor d (by ma ke ha bi ta bleor bel ievabl e p o w e r , t h e y a c q t r i r ct h a t o f of their classifying emptyingthemselves (thedead t hantonrs else); t h e y r e c a l lo r s u g g e s p " p e r m i t t i n g "s o m e t h i n g t) 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 t o h a v ed i s a p p e a r e d w h o a ' r es u p p o s e d .h a t i s . b y i r r t p o s i n g s 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 i n g e s t u r ea f 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 a n i n j u n c t i o np r o c e e d i n g f r o n r i t . t h e y c r e a t ei n t h e 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 s out 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 s within it.

Cred ib let hin gsan d m em orablet hings:habit abilit y

that makespeople 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 e b el ie veis t he o ne t hat takes away what it ur ges them t o bel ievein. or a void or des cribing F ar fr om expressi ng what it pr omi ses. n eve rdel iver s

r06
WALKING IN THE CITY WALKING IN THE CITY a lack , it c re atess uc h. I t mak esroom for a voi d. In tha t w ay, it o pe ns u p clear in g s;it "allows " a c ertain pray w ith in a system o f de fi ne d p la ce s. It "auth o r iz es " the produc tion of an are a o f free pl ay (spi elra um\ on a ch e ck er board that analy zes and c las s ifi esid en ti ti es. It makes p la ce s 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 e a " l o c a l a u t h o r i t v . "I t is a crack in the system that saturates places witt--srgnificitlon anO indeed s o re duc es them to this s ignif i cati on th at i t is "impo ssib leto 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 ta r ianis m (inc luding it s programming ga mes o f a nd ce leb ratio ns) th at it s eek s p r eci sely to eliminate t hes e loc a l a u th ori ti es, be ca use th ey co mpromise the univocity 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 m a t t a c k s w h a t it quite corr ec tly cal ls . supers titi ons s:uperero g ato ry se ma nticoverl ays th at i ns er t them s elves" ov er and abov e" an d "i n e xcess," oo an d an ne x to a pas t or poetic realm a part of the la nd the promo te rs of te ch ni ca l rationalities and financial profitabilities had reserved for themselves. ..l oca l ult im at e ly , s inc e proper nam es are a lre ady au th ori ti es" o r "s upe r s t it ion s, "they are replac edby nu mb e rs:o n the tel ep ho ne, o ne no lo n ger dials Opera, but 073. The sam e i s true o f the stori esa nd le ge nds that haunt urban s pace lik e s uperfluou s or a d di ti on al in ha bita nts. They a r e th e ob jec t of a w itc h-hunt , by the v e ry l og ic o f the techn o-stru cture . But their extermination(like t h e e x t e r m i n a t i o n o f t r e e s , f o r e s t s ,a n d hidden places i n w h i c h s u c h l e g e n d s l i v e ) a r m a k e s t h e c i t y a . . s u s p ended symbolic o r d e r . " o t T h e h a b i t a b l e c i t y i s t h e r e b y a n n u l l e d . T h u s , as a wo man fr om R ouen put it, no, here " th ere isn ' t a ny pl acespe ci al , e xcep t for m y ow n home, t hat 's all. . . . There i sn' t an ythi ng ."No th in g.' spe ci al ": 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 som et h i ng or s omeone el se. Onl y t he cave of th e home re ma in s b el ie vable, s t i l l o p e n f o r a c e r t a i n t i m e t o l e g e n d s , s t i l l f u l l o f s h a d o w s . E x c e pt for t hat, ac c ording to another c ity -dwel l er, the re a re on ly ..pl aces in wh ich one c an no longer believ e in any thin g ."o ' 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 eu p r i c h s i l e n c e s and 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 ga r r e ts ev e ryw here, that (le g end a: loc al legends w hat \s to b e re ad , bu 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 nb ga c k in , and t hus habi table s pac es.Cert ai nly wa lkin g ab out an d tra ve li ng s ubs tit ut e f or ex its , for going away an d comi ng b ack, wh ich we re form er ly ma de avail abl e by a body of le ge ndstha t pl acesn owa da ysl ack. s tod ay' s I P h ys icalm o ving about has the itinerantfunctio n of yeste rda y'or
i walk ing) is a sub sti tu tefor th e le ge nds tha t I "s u per s titi ons. "Trav el_.(lik e i

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.somethlng different. What does travel ulti9El__up*spag9-tolt.djg "an explorat ion of t he mateTtpr o du ce i f it i s not , by a sort ol revers al, pl aceso f m y m em or y, " t he ret urn t o nearby ex ot ic ism by way d eserted o f a d et ou r th rough di st ant places,and the "discover y" of relic s and "f r agm ent sof m usic "f le eti ngvisionsof t he Fr enchcount r yside. " l eg en ds: i 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 and poetry,"oo (He ide gg er ) ? What t hi s w al king exi le producesis precis el yt he body of le ge nd st ha t is curr entl y lacki ng in one's or vn v icinit y: i t is a f ict ion, l i,k e d r e a m so r p e d e s t r i a n 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 c As a and condensat ions. ot rhe to ric ,o f b eing th e ef f ect of dis pl ac em ent s co rol la ry, one can m eas ur et he im por t anceof t hesesignif ying pr act ices (to tel l o ne se lf t hat invent spaces. legends) as pract ices . Fro m t hi s p oint of view , t heir cont ent s r em ain revelat ory,and s ti ll mo re so is th e prin ciple t hat organi zest hem . St or ies about pl acesare w it h t he worl d; sdebri s.Even i f t he ma ke sh i ftt hi ngs.They dr e com posed l ite rary f or m and the act ant ial schem a'of"superst it ions"t ott . rpond t o stabl emod el s wh osest tuct uresand com bi nat ionshave of ten been anal yzedo ver th e pa st t hi rt y years,t he mat erials( al l the r het oric aldet ailsof their "manifestation") are furnished by the leftovers from nominations, et c. , t hat i s, by f ragm ent s of taxon om ie s,h er oic or com ic pr edic at es, and ev en cont rary elese mant icpl ac es .These het er ogeneous sca tter e d f orm of t he st ory . Things ext ra and ot her men ts fi ll t he ho mogeneous int o the (de ta il san d e xcesses i nser t t hem selv es c om ing f rom el sew here) f r am ew or k, t he im posedorder. One thus has t he v er y r el at ionacce pted ship betweenspatial practicesand the constructedorder. The surface of dr if ts , and punchedand t orn open by ellipses, th is o rde r i s e ve ry w here tfidui-ota.t. leaksof meaning:it is a The ve r bal r elics of w hi ch t he st ory is c om posed,bei ng t ied t o lost stori es a n d o paqueact s,are juxt aposedi n a col lagewhere t heir relat ions They a re no t th ou ght , and f or this reasont hey f orm a sym boli c w hol e. ou are articulated by lacunae.Within the structured space of the text, they pos sibilit ies thu s pro du cean ti- tex ts ,ef fect sof di ssim ulat ionand escape, 6 cellarsand bushes:"d nt assif 's, , o f mo vin g i nto ot her l andscapeslike t hat t hey open up, pl urie ls." ot B ecau se of the processof dissem inati on sto ries d if fe r fr om . lumors in t hat the lat ter ar e alw ay s injunc ti ons, in itia to r sa nd r esu ltsof a levellingof space,creat or sof com m on m oveme nts t ha t r ei nf orcean or der by addi ng an act ivit y of m aki ng people . be li eveth in gs to that of m aking people do t hings. St ories divers if y, ru mor s t ot al i ze. I f there is st ill a cer t ai n osc illat ion betw een t hem , it lf
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WA LK IN G IN THE CITY s e e ms that toda y there is rather a s trat i fi cation :stori es a re be co mi ng privateand sink into the secluded p l a c e si n n e i g h b o r h o o d s or f, amilies, 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 d b y t h e m e d i ac o v e re v e r y t h i n g and, gath e red under the figure of the City, t he ma sterw oici oTa n a no ny- . mous law, the substitute f 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 any superstitions guiltyof still resisting the figure 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 n as of the memorable well. And in fact memory is anti-museumi :t i s n o t l o c a l i z a b l e . a s o r t o f Fr agm e n tsof it c ome out in legends Obje . ctsand wo rd s a ii ij fi aveho ll ow p la c e s in whic h a pas t s leeps ,as in t he everyda yacts of w alkin g, ea ti ng , 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 s s l u m b e r .A m e m o r yi s o n l y a P ri nc e Cha rmi ng who s tay s jus t long e no u gh to aw aken the Sl ee pi ng Bcauties of our wordless stories. "_!!_t.f-u, there used to be a bakery." "That'.r that the h e r e w h e r e t o I t i s s t r i k i n g l a d y D u p u i s u s e d l i v e . " o l d W 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 eo sf d i v e r s e absences . hat can be s eendes ig nat es what i s no l onger ther e: " you see ,he re th ere used to be . . . ," b ut it can no longer be s een. Demon stratives i nd icatethe i nv 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 , that it i s c ompos ed by thes e s eriesof disp la ce me nts a nd e ffectsa mo ng th e f ra g me nt ed s trata that form it and t ha t i t p la ys o n th ese moving Ia y ers . " 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 g to any on e els e, but after al l that's what g ive s a n ei gh bo rhoo di ts ch ara c ter ."4 8Th ere is no place t hat is not ha un te d by ma ny di ffere ntsp iri ts hidden there in silences , 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 ar e t h e only ones people c an liv e in-and thi s in ve rtsth e sch emao f th e that once P a n o p t i < ' o nB . u t l i k e t h e g o t h i cs c u l p t u r e s o f k i n g sa n d q u e e n s a d o r ne d N ot re-Dame and hav e been bu rie d fo r two cen tu rie si n th e ' se ba s e ment of ^ building in the rue d e l a Ch au ss6e-d ' A ntin ,athe " sp ir it s," thems elv es broken int o piec esin l i ke man ne r,do no t spea k an y m o r e t h an t hey . ree. T his is a s ort of kno wl ed g eth at remai nssi le nt.Onl y ' Just b etwe enyou hint s of what is know n but unrev ealed a re p assed on I

I+'ALKINGIN THE CITI'

r09

Chi ld ho oda nd metaphors of pl ac es

M e t a p h o rc o n s i s t i sn g i v i n gt h e t h i n g 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 else. Aristotle. poerics 1457b

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and me." pa ststhat othe rs P la c e sare fragment ary and inward-t urni ngh isto rie s, ur i n"t ullo wed to read. ac cum ulatedt imes th at ca n b e un fo ld edbu t li ke s tor ie s held in res erv e,rem ai ni ng in an e ni gmaticstate,symb ol izatio ns ' :l fe el go od hi ie" ' ro th e e n c ys te d in th e pain or pl eas ureof the bod y. in the langu ageit ap pe arsin l ike a fle etin g well- bei ng under-expres s ed g l i m m e r i s a s p a t i a lp r a c t i c 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 e that the possibility of 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 au gu rat ed.We nee d not ret urn t o the f anr ous analys isF19ud nr ade of th is ma tr i xexpe rience by f ol lowing t he gam e played his by eight eenm 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 l a 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 oh in pleasure, ( i . e . ," o v e r " g o n e , " t h e r e . " " n o o r n r o r e " ) a n d t h e n . f o r t l . pu ll ed it b ack w i th piece t he of st ring at t ac hed t o rvi th i t a del ighr ed da t (i.e. , "he r e, " " back again") ;51 it suf f ices here t o rem em ber t li is (pe ril ou san d process sa tisf ied) of det achm entf rorn indif f er enr iarion in 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 e i 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 mo th er (so me tim es she dis appear s by herself , som eti mes t he child nrakes her disappear) c o n s t i t u t e s l o c a l i z a t i o n a n d e x t e r i o r i t y a g a i n s t t h e b a ckg r o u n do f a n joyful a b s e n c e . T h e r e i s a m a n i p u l a t i o n t h a t c a n m a k e the rnate rnalo bj ect "go away" and make oneself ' (insof ar dis appear as one considers ofieself i d e n t i c a l w i t h t h a t o b j e c t ) . m a k i ng it possible to be th ere(b ecau se) v' ithout t he ot her but in a necessary relat ion t o wli at has disappeared ; ismanipulation th i 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 . " No do ub t on e c ould t race t his dif f erenti at ionfurt her back. as f- aras th e n am in g th at separ ates the f oet us i dent if ied as masculi ne fr om hi s

mo th er - bu t h ow a bout the f emale foet us . w ho is f r om t hi s v er y m oment i ntrod u ced i nt o anot her relat ionshi p t o spac e'l ln t he i ni ti at ory gam e, ju st as in t he "joyf ul act ivit y" of the chil d who, st andi ng beforea m ir ror, see si tsel f (it as one is slr e or he, seen as whole) a but onor her ( rhat ,- An image w 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 s i t s e l f ; . s 2 w h a t c o u n t si s t h e p r o c e s s 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 s the passage t o w a r d t h e o t h e ra s

i l0 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 practice space is thusto repeat t he joyf ul a nd s ilent ex peri enc e of childhooO; it is, in a place;o 6e other ond to move toward the other. Thus begins the walk that Freud c om p are sto th e trampl in g un derfo ot o f the m ot he r-land.53 This relat ionshipof o nesel fto o ne se lfgo ve rnsthe i n ternal alterations of t he place (the re la ti on sa mong i ts stra ta ) or the pedest r ianunfolding of the s toriesac c umul ated pl ace(mo vi ng a bo ut i n a t 6e c ity in d trav elling).T he c hildhood e xp eri e nce th at de te rmi ne s spa ti al p r ac ti ceslat er developsits effec ts ,proli ferate s, fl oo ds pri va tea nd pu bl ic s pac es,undoes their readablesurfac e s,an d crea te sw ithi n the pl an ne d ci ty a "m eta phoric al" or mobile c ity , lik e the o n e K a nd in skydre amedo f: "a gr e at cit y built ac c ording t o all t he rul e s of archi te cturea nd the n s u d denlyshak en by a forc e t hat defi esal l ca lcul atio n."5 a

.y

VIII Kailway l\avlgauon Chapter and Incarceration

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Im T R A V E L L I NIG NCARCERATIo n -n . r o b i l e i n s i d et l i e t r a i n . s e e i n g ?othing is nroving 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 i n s i d eo r o u t s i d e thetrain. in and regulated . umbered. The unchanging t r a v e l l e ri s p i g e o n h o l e dn o actualizatior rl ' t h e r a t i o n a l 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 t "Tic kets , t o pi georr hole: utop ia . Co nt r ol and food m ove f rom pi geonhole pl ea se . . . " ' Only the rest r oom sof'f er . . . " "san dwi ches?Beer'? C of f ee'? . wll y an e sca p e f ro m th e c losedsys tem .They ar e a lovers' phant ar sma 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 out for the ill, an escapade of earli erti nr es. i rratio na li ty,li ke love aff air s and sew ersir r t he Llt ct pias h a s i t s p l a c ei n a i e.v e r y t h i n g 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 s

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 that m akes possi bl et he ' cla ssifyi ngpo wer, a modul e of inr pr isonnr ent 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 t f l o c a lr o o t s . a n d m a k e i t s e l fi n d e p e n d e no w h a t c a nt r a v e r s e space reign 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 s supre me . The re i s not fi lngt o do, one is in t he st oteof reason.Ev er yt hirr g . Ev er y being i s pl ac ed is in i ts p la ce ,a s in Hegel's Phil os oph. t'c t.Right l' the re l i ke a pi eceof pr int er 'st ype on a page arrangedin m ilit ary or der. reas on,i s sys tem ,the quietudeof a c er t at in Thi s o r de r, an org anizat ional th e co ndi ti on o f bot h a rail way car's and a t ex t's m ov em ent f r om one pl aceto an ot 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 of v i l l a g e sc , olonnades t a i n s ,s t r e t c h e s o 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 d b ui ld in gs, b la ck ur ban sil houet t esagai ns t t he pink evening sky. t he our twi nkl in g of noct urnal li ght s on a sea t hat precedesor succeeds exDi .i rer'sM elanc holi a,a speculati ve h isto rie s.Th e t rai n gener alizes

pe rie nceo f t he w orl d: bei ng out side of t hes e t hings t hat st ay t her e, de tach ed a nd a bsolut e,that l eaveus w it hout having any thing t o do rv it h