The Periscope and the Labyrinth is an investigation into cultural identity, consciousness and landscape rooted in the body’s experience of the city. The modern phenomenon of flânerie is used as a means of examining vari- ous sites of particular interest to queer mythology within New York and Rome via the device of personal ‘derives’ or drifts inspired by a legacy of city writing, whereby the particular relationship between identity, place and space becomes clear. The flâneur has been essential to previous writings on the topic of ‘queer space’ in that he is one who ‘relies on the ambiguities of the modern city, and the uncertainties that linger in the fleeting experi- ence of a backward glance.’ It is these very ambiguities that associate the flâneur as the quintessential ‘cruiser.’ Yet the potential of the flâneur lies in his ‘alchemical’ abilities. A contemporary interpretation of alchemy is used through out the thesis as both a psychological method for understand- ing the ‘union of opposites’, as well as a reading of the parallels between individual and collective identity as they relate to particular sites. These archetypal opposites are typified by the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus; the duality of their characteristics exemplified by the metaphor of the title in which the conscience of the ‘Apollonian eye’ of the flâneur within the labyrinth of the Dionysian underworld’ describing the alchemical teachings which underpin this work.

The Periscope and the Labyrinth is an investigation into cultural identity, consciousness and landscape rooted in the body’s experience of the city. The modern phenomenon of flânerie is used as a means of examining vari- ous sites of particular interest to queer mythology within New York and Rome via the device of personal ‘derives’ or drifts inspired by a legacy of city writing, whereby the particular relationship between identity, place and space becomes clear. The flâneur has been essential to previous writings on the topic of ‘queer space’ in that he is one who ‘relies on the ambiguities of the modern city, and the uncertainties that linger in the fleeting experi- ence of a backward glance.’ It is these very ambiguities that associate the flâneur as the quintessential ‘cruiser.’ Yet the potential of the flâneur lies in his ‘alchemical’ abilities. A contemporary interpretation of alchemy is used through out the thesis as both a psychological method for understand- ing the ‘union of opposites’, as well as a reading of the parallels between individual and collective identity as they relate to particular sites. These archetypal opposites are typified by the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus; the duality of their characteristics exemplified by the metaphor of the title in which the conscience of the ‘Apollonian eye’ of the flâneur within the labyrinth of the Dionysian underworld’ describing the alchemical teachings which underpin this work.

The flaneur (“stroller, dawdler, leisurer, idler”) is an aesthetic and historical figure that arose in nineteenth-century Paris as a by-product of metropolitan growth. Walter Benjamin brought the flaneur to the consideration of the twentieth-century philosophical thought by choosing the figure as his conceptual persona. The goal of this work is to answer the question “who is the flaneur?” in an expansive way, tracing this figure’s conceptual life from its origins, through the flaneur’s role in Benjamin’s thought, to its contemporary state of being dispersed into the multitude. Building on the works of Benjamin, Charles Baudelaire, Henri Bergson, Georg Simmel, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Patrick Keiller, Julia Kristeva, A. Kiarina Kordela, Paulo Virno, Tiqqun and others, the flaneur serves as a prism to critically viewing contemporary phenomena. The scope of this work encompasses the prevalence of metropolitan life and experience, disintegration of authenticity and exceptionality, rapid production and appropriation of the surplus by Capital, perception of time and duration, commodity fetishism, increasingly general attunements of alienation, anxiety and melancholy. While investigating the realities and conditons of contemporary existence, one can producitvely turn to the flaneur and his contemporary forms revolutionary qualities: potential for resistance and weakness for recuperation. / Flaneur (“vaikštinėtojas, bastūnas, dykinėtojas“) – estetinė ir istorinė figūra, atsiradusi XIX a. Paryžiuje kaip metropolio plėtros šalutinis produktas. Walteris Benjaminas iškėlė flaneur į XX a. filosofinę mintį, pasirinkdamas šią figūrą savo „konceptualiuoju personažu“. Šio darbo tikslas – išplėstai atsakyti į klausimą „kas yra flaneur?“, sekant šios figūros konceptualų kelią nuo kilmės, per jos vaidmenį Benjamino apmąstymuose, iki dabartinės flaneur būklės, kurioje jis yra išskydęs į daugybę kaip pastarosios bruožas. Remiantis W. Benjamino, Charles‘io Baudelaire‘o, Henri Bergsono, Georgo Simmelio, Gilles‘io Deleuze‘o ir Felixo Guattari, Patricko Keillerio, Julios Kristevos, A. Kiarinos Kordelios, Paulo Virno, Tiqqun ir kitų darbais, flaneur pasitarnauja prizme, per kurią kritiškai žvelgiama į šiuolaikinius reiškinius: gyvenimą ir patirtį metropolyje, autentiškumo ir išskirtinumo suirimą, Kapitalo vykdomą intensyvią pertekliaus gamybą ir nusavinimą, laiko ir trukmės suvokimą, prekinį fetišizmą, vis labiau visuotines susvetimėjimo, nerimo ir melancholijos nuotaikas. Tiriant šiuolaikinės egzistencijos realijas, nuolat grįžtama prie flaneur ir jo dabartinių formų revoliucinių ypatybių: būdingo potencialo pasipriešinimui ir silpnybės rekuperacijai.

Esta dissertação relê aspectos da relação entre as artes plásticas e as poéticas do espaço urbano a partir da trajetória e da obra fotográfica de Gyula Halász, conhecido como Brassaï. Além da referida reflexão, cujo objetivo implica na observação de um corpus estrito, este estudo evidencia algumas problemáticas que se inserem em contextos mais amplos. De um lado, permite apreender, através de sua singularidade, aspectos históricos, econômicos, técnico-científicos e socioculturais que são relevantes para a temática da modernidade. Por outro lado, esses aspectos relacionam-se à investigação das dinâmicas criativas, processos de conhecimento, culturas urbanas e mobilidade, que estão presentes no desenvolvimento das imensas aglomerações urbanas que se espalharam pelo globo a partir do fim da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Embora a importância de todos esses objetos de estudos seja incontestável na atualidade do mundo globalizado, sua relação com o passado recente é menos nítida. Dividida em quatro capítulos, esta dissertação está organizada em quatro partes que correspondem a aspectos particulares, ainda que não isolados, da obra de Brassaï artista. No primeiro capítulo exploro a relação entre a imigração e a transição para uma nova perspectiva artística de Brassaï, transformando-o naquilo que o escritor Henry Miller descreveu como o olho de P ris. O segundo capítulo se concentra na estética noturna pela qual Brassaï apresenta Paris, bem como os aspectos culturais de sua leitura sobre a noturnidade. O terceiro capítulo prende-se aos aspectos do fazer artístico de Brassaï, da exploração da cidade e, particularmente, das técnicas visuais que o fotógrafo usava para narrar os acontecimentos em um espaço urbano iluminado pela noite. Já no quatro e último capítulo, que funciona como considerações finais da pesquisa, traço um paralelo entre da Paris dos anos 1920 à Paris contemporânea, onde a flânerie tornou possível a Brassaï o encontro com os graffitti, que capta simultaneamente as paredes tatuadas da cidade e as inscrições da luz fotográfica, estabelecendo com uma humanidade noturna uma fraternidade que a câmera transfigura e eterniza. / This dissertation reviews aspects of the relation between plastic arts and the poetics of urban space reflecting on the trajectory and the photographic work of Gyula Halász, also known as Brassaï. Further than the referred reflection, whose objective implies the observation of a strict corpus, this study makes evident some issues inserted in wider contexts. From one side, it makes possible to grasp, by means of its singularity, the historical, economic, techno-scientific and social-cultural aspects that are relevant to the theme of modernity. From another side, these aspects are related to the investigation of creative dynamics, knowledge processes, urban cultures and mobility, which are present in the development of huge urban agglomerations that spread in the globe from the end of Second World War. Although the importance of all these objects of study were incontestable, its relations with recent past are not fully clear. Being presented in three chapters, this dissertation is organized in three parts which correspond to particular aspects of the artistic work of Brassaï. In the first chapter, I explore the relation between immigration nd Br ss ïs tr nsition to a new artistic perspective that transformed him in what Henry Miller described as the eye of P ris. The second chapter leads with the nocturnal esthetics by which Brassaï presented Paris, as much as with the cultural aspects of his lecture of the nocturne. The third chapter is linked with the exploration of the city and, particularly, with the technical approaches Brassaï used to describe events in an urban space illuminated by night. In the fourth and final chapter, which serves as final considerations of the research, we draw a parallel between the Paris of the 1920s to contemporary Paris, where dawdling made it possible to Brassaï the meeting with graffitti, which simultaneously captures the tattooed city walls and the inscriptions of the photographic light setting with a night humanity a fraternity that the camera transfigures and perpetuates.

Esta dissertação relê aspectos da relação entre as artes plásticas e as poéticas do espaço urbano a partir da trajetória e da obra fotográfica de Gyula Halász, conhecido como Brassaï. Além da referida reflexão, cujo objetivo implica na observação de um corpus estrito, este estudo evidencia algumas problemáticas que se inserem em contextos mais amplos. De um lado, permite apreender, através de sua singularidade, aspectos históricos, econômicos, técnico-científicos e socioculturais que são relevantes para a temática da modernidade. Por outro lado, esses aspectos relacionam-se à investigação das dinâmicas criativas, processos de conhecimento, culturas urbanas e mobilidade, que estão presentes no desenvolvimento das imensas aglomerações urbanas que se espalharam pelo globo a partir do fim da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Embora a importância de todos esses objetos de estudos seja incontestável na atualidade do mundo globalizado, sua relação com o passado recente é menos nítida. Dividida em quatro capítulos, esta dissertação está organizada em quatro partes que correspondem a aspectos particulares, ainda que não isolados, da obra de Brassaï artista. No primeiro capítulo exploro a relação entre a imigração e a transição para uma nova perspectiva artística de Brassaï, transformando-o naquilo que o escritor Henry Miller descreveu como o olho de P ris. O segundo capítulo se concentra na estética noturna pela qual Brassaï apresenta Paris, bem como os aspectos culturais de sua leitura sobre a noturnidade. O terceiro capítulo prende-se aos aspectos do fazer artístico de Brassaï, da exploração da cidade e, particularmente, das técnicas visuais que o fotógrafo usava para narrar os acontecimentos em um espaço urbano iluminado pela noite. Já no quatro e último capítulo, que funciona como considerações finais da pesquisa, traço um paralelo entre da Paris dos anos 1920 à Paris contemporânea, onde a flânerie tornou possível a Brassaï o encontro com os graffitti, que capta simultaneamente as paredes tatuadas da cidade e as inscrições da luz fotográfica, estabelecendo com uma humanidade noturna uma fraternidade que a câmera transfigura e eterniza. / This dissertation reviews aspects of the relation between plastic arts and the poetics of urban space reflecting on the trajectory and the photographic work of Gyula Halász, also known as Brassaï. Further than the referred reflection, whose objective implies the observation of a strict corpus, this study makes evident some issues inserted in wider contexts. From one side, it makes possible to grasp, by means of its singularity, the historical, economic, techno-scientific and social-cultural aspects that are relevant to the theme of modernity. From another side, these aspects are related to the investigation of creative dynamics, knowledge processes, urban cultures and mobility, which are present in the development of huge urban agglomerations that spread in the globe from the end of Second World War. Although the importance of all these objects of study were incontestable, its relations with recent past are not fully clear. Being presented in three chapters, this dissertation is organized in three parts which correspond to particular aspects of the artistic work of Brassaï. In the first chapter, I explore the relation between immigration nd Br ss ïs tr nsition to a new artistic perspective that transformed him in what Henry Miller described as the eye of P ris. The second chapter leads with the nocturnal esthetics by which Brassaï presented Paris, as much as with the cultural aspects of his lecture of the nocturne. The third chapter is linked with the exploration of the city and, particularly, with the technical approaches Brassaï used to describe events in an urban space illuminated by night. In the fourth and final chapter, which serves as final considerations of the research, we draw a parallel between the Paris of the 1920s to contemporary Paris, where dawdling made it possible to Brassaï the meeting with graffitti, which simultaneously captures the tattooed city walls and the inscriptions of the photographic light setting with a night humanity a fraternity that the camera transfigures and perpetuates.

Zugl.: Saarbrücken, Univ., Diss.

Universiẗat, Magisterarb. u.d.T.: Kaiser, Tina Hedwig: Filmbilder des Stadtraums und Stadtgangs--Lüneburg, 2001.

Published in 2011, Teju Cole’s second novel Open City tells the story of one year of walking in New York and Brussels narrated from the perspective of the novel’s first-person narrator, Julius. In this manner the reader is offered ample insights into Julius’s thoughts and memories. This is a narrative based on the memories of the protagonist as well as the memories shared by the people he meets, which together create a narrative “fugue” that both hides and illuminates the central conflicts of the novel. Julius can be described both as fugueur (someone who is in a dissociated mental state and travels compulsively) and flaneur (someone who walks the streets and is obsessively observant), two concepts of ambiguity. This paper will analyze the main character’s development through three stages: reunion, repression, and reconstruction, in relation to Walter Benjamin’s reading of the flaneur as both criminal and detective, and Ian Hacking’s book on fugueurs in the 19th century. Furthermore, this memory-based narrative can be read in relation to Wai Chee Dimock’s idea of deep time, as well as Rothberg’s view of memory as multidirectional and productive, two theories that can be linked to “mad” travelling and obsessive observation. This paper tries to bring clarity to this opaque novel of solitude and repression, and sort out the clues given by the narrator.

紐約三部曲，顧名思義，是三個關於後現代資本首都，紐約，的故事。然而，作者並未著重描繪後現代城市，迥異於後資本觀點如：物化、戀物癖、時尚、為主的敘事，而著重於描述身處於後現代空間主體如何因應、如何遭遇挫折、心態如何變化的現代啟示錄。 空間形塑主體，主體也反之形塑空間。現代空間所帶來的整齊清潔的身份認同童話已然消失，代之而興的，是後現代破碎、曖昧、精神分裂、主體消失的超現實空間，在這個獨特的空間場域裡，本論文試圖分析紐約人在紐約此一獨特空間之作為：透過行走、書寫、命名、記憶、偵察、地圖認知等方式來定位/重新定位/喪失定位的過程。 悲劇在於，籠罩於後現代的的烏雲下，雖然現代主義式英雄早已是一條死路，但提不出任何新的突破之路的主角們，終究不由自主地，以舊式現代主義英雄式的方法去探究、去找尋，去試圖重整秩序，緊接著便是，在這做玻璃之城裡，去失望、去挫折，去瘋狂，去死亡。 / Space is an influential, even determining factor to establish concerning subjectivity, and vice versa. The modern space and its fairy tale-type ordered/reasoned/omniscient city dwellers and detectives have already proved to be just an illusion. The world is no longer a comprehensible and legible universe. The omnipotent position the humans believe they firmly stand is just an ideological illusion. What exists in New York now is a hyperspace with ambiguity, contingency, self-dislocation, schizophrenia, and pastiche. Even though Auster’s texts are frequently regarded as postmodern, the Postmodernity is delineated and constructed not upon the illustration/configuration of the late urban capitalism logic which Jameson sees as the dominant features, but upon the textual characteristics of meta-fictionality and the self–deconstruction. But the New York tragedy is, facing with the mental crisis of the new age, the protagonists, or the heroes, the representative of every city dwellers living in the “mutation of the built space,” can’t propose any efficient and effective resolutions. The modernist efforts are proved to be a failure along with the changing of the city. Even though we know the condition is different, we still can’t have a new way to overcome our incapability and incompetents. This failure leads to various crises of subjectivity, ending in disappointment, frustration, disappearance, madness and death. So, in this dissertation, I will attempt to analyze the behaviors of New Yorkers and the way they take actions: through the ways of writing, walking, naming and remembering, they endeavor to orient/reorient/disorient themselves in this particular the biggest late capitalism metropolis.

Zugl.: Lüneburg, Univ., Magisterarbeit, 2001 u.d.T.: Kaiser, Tina Hedwig: Filmbilder des Stadtraums und Stadtgangs