Siegfried Kracauer is mostly known for the work on film theory he wrote during his post-war exile to North America. This thesis proposes to examine a lesser known and far more complex portion of his oeuvre, namely the vast body of essays and monographs he produced throughout the 20s and 30s as editor of the Frankfurter Zeitung, which offer not only a cultural diary of the Weimar republic but also a critique of modernity and the many upheavals it engendered. Using both a detailed analysis of his own work as well as an examination of the various critical responses it elicited, this study aims at exposing the paradoxical complexity of Kracauer's stance towards modernity and its various mass cultural manifestations, a complexity which has unfortunately often been misjudged and reduced to a mere middling position. Indeed, because of his refusal to opt for a definite position, to either fully embrace or reject modernity, Kracauer has often been miscast as a mere seeker of compromise, a thinker who tried to make edges rounder and ease tensions. This thesis is an attempt to prove that far from trying to annihilate the tensions of the modern era, Kracauer in fact sought to cultivate them. He may have refused to opt for a definite stance---be it a "yes" or a "no"---towards modernity, yet his position is not to be reduced to a tepid "maybe", but ought to be seen, rather, as a truly Janusian simultaneous "yes" and "no" towards it. In our age of extreme relativism, where tension is to be avoided at all costs, there is some valuable insight to be gained from Kracauer's obstinate fight against comfortable compromises of any kind.

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The present thesis is dealing with the theoretical concept of modernity. It is attempting to define the concept with a reference to the experience of a shifted time-perception. The first part of the text analyses some of the theoretical approaches to the concept. The following parts are dedicated to the work of Walter Benjamin and Siegfried Kracauer and are trying to examine the way in which those two described their own experience of modernity.

Déclenchée par une expérience personnelle – la recherche d’une « robe d’architecte » –, la présente étude gravite autour de l’architecture en Roumanie et se concentre sur le style de vie de ses professionnels. Si les modalités de distinction qui opèrent dans ce champ – encadrées par la théorie de Pierre Bourdieu – sont initialement apparues comme pistes à explorer, ce sont les écrits de Siegfried Kracauer qui m’ont permis de traiter le sujet de façon satisfaisante. En traçant les contours de l’image d’architecte qui, sur son chemin vers une meilleure vie, s’abandonne au souci de s’élever socialement, j’ai découvert avec étonnement les architectes réservés de T. – la ville moyenne de Transylvanie qui a constitué le terrain de mon enquête. Ce qui s’est présenté au début de ma démarche comme obstacle est devenu, au fil de l’analyse, son aspect le plus fécond : dans les hésitations des architectes de T. (les ellipses et rectifications de leur discours), j’ai pu discerner plus de traits de leur réalité quotidienne que je l’avais d’abord anticipé. Grâce aux leçons de Siegfried Kracauer – son œil attentif, son intérêt pour les détails, ses capacités d’étonnement tout comme sa sensibilité aux idéologies et grandes directions de la société et son ouverture aux matériaux offerts à la sociologie – et à son style d’écriture, j’ai pu déceler des indices qui m’ont permis de plonger dans la réalité des architectes de T., une réalité mêlée d’une gloire rêvée et d’incertitudes vécues. C’est cette exploration minutieuse du quotidien et du discours des architectes de T, mis en balance avec leur représentation dans des œuvres littéraires et cinématographiques, qui se reflète dans le présent mémoire et le structure. / Triggered by a personal experience – the search for an “architect’s dress” – the present study revolves around architecture in Romania and focuses on the lifestyle of its professionals. If the modes of distinction operating in this field – formulated in Pierre Bourdieu’s theory – initially appeared as a path to be explored, it is the writings of Siegfried Kracauer that allowed me to capture the subject more aptly. By drawing the contours of the image of an architect who, on his way to a better life, abandons himself to the thirst to raise socially, I discovered the reserved architects of T. – the average-sized city of Transylvania, which was at the heart of my investigation. What emerged at the beginning of the process as an obstacle, soon became its most fruitful aspect: in the architects’ hesitations (the gaps and rectifications in their discourse), I could discern more aspects of their daily reality that I had initially anticipated. Thanks to Siegfried Kracauer’s lessons – his keen eye, his interest in details, his capacities of astonishment as well as his sensitivity to the ideologies and major directions of society and his openness to the various materials offered to sociology – as well as his style of writing, I was able to detect clues, which allowed me to plunge into the reality of architects in T., a reality combining dreams of glory and experienced uncertainties. It is this meticulous exploration of the everyday life and discourse of architects in T, weighed against their representation in literary and cinematographic works, which is reflected in the present memoire and lends it its structure.

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This dissertation is an investigation on the realist film theory of Siegfried Kracauer. It was principally conducted through film practice as exemplified by the ten short films that compose the omnibus film project, Life-world Series (dir. Joni Gutierrez, 2017, 118 minutes). To supplement the study's examination of Kracauerian cinematic realism (KCR), film criticism of selected works of Lino Brocka was also accomplished. The methodology involved three components: (1) research-based production of Life-world Series; (2) textual analyses of the said film collection and selected Brocka films; and (3) meta-analysis of the scholarly criticism on the Brocka film. This dissertation is the first to use film-making practice which was a part of the research project and devised to investigate KCR, which avows that the cinematic experience of physical reality as an object of contemplation fosters an intuitive understanding of the Lebenswelt (life-world) and, in turn, brings about the redemptive potential of film vis-à-vis the modern condition. The emergent design of Life-world Series opened the study to a wide range of possibilities that it could not have encountered if it limited itself to applying a particular theory as a framework in doing film criticism of pre-existing works. This project - through both its film practice and criticism components - is an interweaving of key notions from Husserlian phenomenology and the seven KCR tropes identified in the study, namely: (1) the quotidian; (2) the transient; (3) the refuse; (4) the fortuitous; (5) the indeterminate; (6) the flow of life; and (7) the spiritual life itself. The phenomenological engagement of this investigation has provided opportunities for expanding the inventory of KCR tropes, to conceivably include characteristics of the Lebenswelt which form part of the project's overall findings; that is, the life-world as: (1) expansive; (2) multi-layered; (3) flowing; (4) in the process of becoming; (5) resonantly intersubjective; (6) a thing of beauty; (7) relating to essences; (8) cyclical; (9) transcendent; (10) meaning-laden; (11) fragmented; and (12) malleable. The dissertation explicates how its phenomenological approach in inspecting KCR led to the construction of a prospective model of cinematic realism - the integrated quadrant model of Kracauerian cinematic realism (IQMKCR) - and finally, determines the implications and prospects of using film practice as an instrument in interrogating KCR.

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En 2004, Michael Burawoy, alors président de l’Association américaine de sociologie (ASA), faisait un plaidoyer pour une sociologie « publique ». Ses considérations portaient sur l’orientation de la pratique de la discipline. Il avançait que le domaine devait réengager un dialogue avec des préoccupations plus proches d’un public « non-sociologue ». Dans ce mémoire, je propose des pistes de réflexion sur ces préoccupations en me penchant sur la pratique journalistique à travers deux genres : le fait divers et le feuilleton. Je mets en parallèle les deux genres en les approfondissant et en analysant leur traitement respectif de certains procès. C’est sur ce thème que je souligne leurs apports possibles pour une sociologie « en dehors de la sociologie ». Le fait divers, genre largement lu dans les journaux d’aujourd’hui, porte son attention sur l’environnement proche de ses lecteurs et sur des événements prenant naissance dans leur quotidien, mais qui ont pris des tangentes hors de l’ordinaire. Alors qu’on peut le qualifier de sensationnaliste et de genre exploitant la peur, il démontre cependant un intérêt pour des événements ordinaires pouvant apporter de nouveaux thèmes à la sociologie. Le feuilleton, un genre journalistique allemand foisonnant des années 1920-1930 et plus précisément le type qu’écrit Siegfried Kracauer, s’intéresse à de « petits faits » du monde urbain et assemble ses observations sous la forme d’une mosaïque. Le feuilleton tente de révéler l’implication de ses lecteurs dans les phénomènes qu’il observe, produisant un effet réflexif à sa lecture qui apporte une dimension possible à l’écriture sociologique. Suite à l’analyse d’exemples des deux genres, je propose trois pistes de réflexion pouvant répondre aux préoccupations de Burawoy : 1) la sociologie peut avoir un aspect « sensationnel », 2) la sociologie peut s’inspirer davantage du quotidien, 3) la sociologie peut prendre exemple sur une écriture journalistique. C’est en tentant de générer un effet par la lecture, à s’investir dans une forme d’écriture stimulant la réflexivité et à adopter une posture qui tienne compte de la contingence et du point de vue de l’auteur dans l’interprétation que le journalisme peut apporter des éléments d’orientation de la pratique sociologique afin de permettre à celle-ci de s’ouvrir à un plus large public. / In 2004, Michael Burawoy, then president of the American Sociological Association (ASA), made a plea for a “public sociology”. His considerations focused on the direction of the discipline's practice. His concerns were for a re-engagement in a dialogue with concerns closer to a “non-sociological” public. In this master thesis, I propose avenues to reflect on these concerns by looking at the journalistic practice through two genres: the “fait divers” and the “feuilleton”. I open up a dialogue between the two genres by exploring them in depth and analyzing their respective treatment of trials. It is through this theme that I underline their possible contributions to a sociology “outside of sociology”. The “fait divers” is a genre that is widely read in today’s newspapers. It focuses its attention on the environment close to its readers and on events that take origin in everyday life, but which have taken paths outside away from the ordinary. While this genre can be described as sensationalist and fearmongering, it nevertheless shows an interest in ordinary events that can bring new themes to sociology. The “feuilleton” and more precisely the type written by Siegfried Kracauer, is a German journalistic genre that flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. This author is interested in “small facts” of the urban world and assembles his observations in the form of a mosaic. The “feuilleton” tries to reveal the involvement of its readers in the phenomena it observes, thereby producing an effect of reflection after being read that brings a possible dimension to sociological writing. Following the analysis of examples from both genres, I propose three avenues that can respond to Burawoy’s concerns: 1) sociology can have a “sensational” aspect, 2) sociology can draw more inspiration from daily life, 3) sociology can take the example of a journalistic writing. By being interested in generating an effect through reading, investing in a form of writing that stimulates reflexivity and adopting a posture that takes into account contingency and the author's point of view in interpretation, journalism can provide elements of direction for the sociological practice in order to help it open up to a wider public.

La présente étude est une ethnographie du boulevard Saint-Laurent qui a duré 11 mois et au cours de laquelle j’ai intégré ce que l’on qualifie aujourd’hui le « cœur » du boulevard, la portion allant de la rue Sherbrooke à l’avenue Mont-Royal. Me basant sur des observations, des entretiens avec des résident.es et des commerçant.es, des brochures touristiques et les installations éducatives longeant l’artère, j’entreprends une entreprise de démystification : comprendre la réalité du boulevard contemporain en la substituant à l’aura énigmatique et mystérieuse que l’on retrouve dans les écrits historiques et les discours populaires. En menant des entretiens, je dénote une « nostalgie moderne » chez les résident.es et les commerçant.es de l’artère et montre leur utilisation différenciée de qualificatifs comme « gentrification » et « effervescence ». Par mes observations de tableaux éducatifs longeant les trottoirs, je fais l’expérience d’une « nostalgie post-moderne » et révèle les intérêts des sociétés de développement quant à la transformation commerciale du boulevard. Je perçois que les sens attribués à l’imaginaire du boulevard contemporain se définissent selon un rapport temporel et critique. Ma méthode d’enquête est à la fois phénoménologique, dans la mesure où elle reprend la figure du flâneur de Walter Benjamin comme posture d’observation, et « empirique », notamment par l’utilisation du feuilleton sociologique inspiré de Siegfried Kracauer, approche qui insiste sur la matérialité du quotidien, les discours et les observations. / The current study is an ethnography of Saint-Laurent Boulevard, which lasted 11 months and during which I integrated what is now called the “heart” of the boulevard, the portion between Sherbrooke street to Mont-Royal avenue. Based on observations, interviews with residents and shop owners, tourist brochures, and historical posters installed along the boulevard, I undertake an enterprise of demystification: to understand concretely the reality of the contemporary boulevard by going beyond an enigmatic and mysterious aura perpetuated in historical writings and popular discourses. In conducting interviews, I note a “modern nostalgia” among residents and shop owners of the boulevard and show their differentiated uses of words like “gentrification” and “effervescence”. Through my observations of historical boards lining the sidewalks, I experience a “post-modern nostalgia” and reveal the interests of development associations in the commercial transformation of the boulevard. I perceive that the meanings attributed to the imagination of the contemporary boulevard are defined according to a temporal and critical relation. My method of inquiry is both phenomenological, as it takes up Walter Benjamin’s figure of the flâneur as a posture of observation, and “empirical”, in particular through the use of sociological feuilletons inspired by Siegfried Kracauer, an approach which stresses the importance of the materiality of everyday life, discourses and observations.