Recent feminist theorists have suggested that the flaneur---a key trope of modernity---had a sister figure who, if not equally on par in importance, figured significantly within the changing modern landscape. The 'flaneuse' also gazed upon the spectacle of urban life, only she did so from the vantage point of the consumer dream-land that was the department store. But how useful is this trope of the flaneuse and what are its, or more specifically, her limitations, particularly within her popular construct as the consumer-observer? This paper explores the concept of the flaneuse, challenges her definition as consumer and questions the usefulness of this metaphor, particularly as it relates to the original construct of the flaneur. This paper is a review of the writing on the flaneuse as well as an exercise in deconstructing one of her likenesses. I argue that the consuming- flaneuse is at odds with the entire premise of flanerie . In the translation from flaneur to flaneuse, the physical similarities may have been accounted for but the ideology of flanerie---what makes the flaneur such a powerful metaphor---has been lost. I suggest, therefore, that a new image of modernity needs to be found for women, one that provides a more balanced perspective of women's experiences and that takes women out of the very limited arenas of consumption.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Literatures in English." Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-168).

This dissertation focuses on the intersections of theories of place, space, and story. It is part ethnographic, part literary studies, and dives deeply into American history and literature, beginning with the industrial revolution in the 19th Century. It steps into theories and literature surrounding how we story ourselves into the world, focused in large part on the literary archetype that grows from the concept of the flâneur--Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin's urban wanderer who walks both the city streets and art and literature to explore meaning and purpose of city and story, and to fight against a sometimes alienating place. My dissertation expands some of those notions, and explores the ways we expand and investigate our own literary geographies. Each chapter merges theory and practice in various ways of reading and writing space and story--from a walk across the city and its waterfront where I chronicle the history of the flâneur alongside the history of the economic and physical development of New York City; to a sit in a neighborhood café where I theorize how we layer (or "write") history, personal experience, and literature into familiar places; to a 24-hour ride along the 1-line subway, which becomes an extended metaphor that problematizes "meaning" in literature as I loop through a supposedly static space, barely moving from my seat from 8am to 8am. Each of these investigations intentionally blurs the lines between reading and writing, space and story, and theory and practice, in order to expand theoretical approaches to place and literature. Through this dissertation I hope to add to the theoretical body of work in studies of place, literature, and urban studies, and to challenge the ways that we discuss literary theory by offering approaches to these discussions in ways that situate them in a different sort of action.

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains v, 53 p. Includes bibliographical references.

This research stems from an interest in the role of the flâneur and his interaction with the city. The flâneur has been theorised as one of the most prominent figures in understanding modernity. This study draws upon two well-known modernist writers, Baudelaire and Woolf, using their literary flânerie to understand modernity from a twenty-first-century vantage point. The purpose of this thesis is to interrogate and reinterpret the notion of modernity: experience of modernity is that of spatiotemporal dislocation, a sense of in-betweenness that can be likened to the gap between a train and the platform. From the gap imagery, this thesis explores the paradoxical nature of modernity demonstrated in the writing of Baudelaire and Woolf. While existing studies have discussed the theme of flânerie extensively, the discourse is dominated by Benjaminian assumptions, which results in a visuo-centric bias. With recourse to Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology, this thesis provides a more holistic understanding of the intertwining relationship between the flâneur, the city, the writer, and the text. Comparing the flâneur to a writerly device, this study explains how the flâneur offers the writer a novel perspective on the city. The aim of the writer's manipulation of the flâneur is to approach what I call line-scape. This notion designates an ideal literary horizon which the writer constantly endeavours to reach, to no avail. Various implications of line-scape are investigated, most notably through landscape painting tradition, to highlight the way in which the writer deploys the flâneur figure as an implied observer of line-scape. Translation theories and phenomenology-inspired studies are also incorporated into the research. Ultimately, flânerie as a clue to line-scape takes part in the current literary landscape, allowing for a revaluation of modernist writing, engendering novel interpretations of the act of walking, and renewing interest in modernity and the city.