The Art of Taking a Walk

Flanerie, literature anf film in Weimar culture. The author examines one of the most intriguing and characteristic figures of European urban modernity; the observing city stroller, or flaneur. Gleber examines this often elusive figure in the particular contexts of Weimar Germany and the intellectual sphere of Walter Benjamin, with whom the concept of flanerie is often associated. The book begins by exploring the theory of literary flanerie and technologicalchanges -street lighting, public transportation, and the emergence of film- that gave new status to the activities of seeing and walking in the modern city. Gleber then assesse the place of flanerie in works by Benjamin, Kracauer, and other representatives of Weimar literatures, arts and theory. She draws particular attention to the works of Franz Hessel. Gleber also examines connections between flanerie and Weimar film, and discusses female flanerie as a means of asserting female subjectivity in the public realm. Contents: Literature, culture, theory; Hessel in Berlin; Flanerie and film; Female in flanerie