The Flaneur Amongst the Pages
by Chelsea Roles
Physiology of the Flaneur. (Huart, 1841, https://goo.gl/images/MeHZii)
A
flaneur, according to R Prouty, is “someone adrift in the city, a detached
observer strolling through the streets at a leisurely pace … people who take in
their environments in a distracted manner” (Prouty, 2009). The anonymity of the
mass majority frees the flaneur to move about places without anyone paying
attention to him. In the case of the online community of Goodreads, it is
obvious that there are many flaneurs; many people who endlessly scroll through
the site without being noticed. At this stage, I am still a flaneur, on the
site with the purpose of observing the society and types of users. This makes
me understand that every user was initially a flaneur, and many still are. On
Goodreads, attention is brought to those who comment and rate favoured books,
either disclosing their popular/ unpopular opinions. This allows other members
of the online community to either agree or disagree; to follow or ignore. Defaming other authors can also be considered flaneurs, as they can cause unpopular hype for the book, without being held completely responsible.
The members who do have the higher following, can also be referred to as ‘tactical players’; those who seek to fulfil their individual needs (a large number of followers) behind a façade of conformity; as many users will only read and rate ‘popular’ books in order to stay updated and conform to the latest book trends. This is an easy way to get your profile popularised, as most users like to see similar views and opinions expressed by others.
“Confronted with a technical infrastructure and a set of “rules of the games” tactical players may enrol in gentle forms of subversion to make the prefabricated space more ‘habitual’ and better suited to fulfil their needs.” (deCerteau, 1984).
Cyberspace is an alternate geography that must be witnessed in order to exist, and the ‘flaneur’ is the main vehicle for this witnessing. Most of them wander anonymously within the boundaries of the site, and develop a virtual identity while connected. (Barnes, 1997). With no initial idea about the sites mapping, they soon gain orientation as they go forth. I am now able to click on tabs and understand where they will take me and what I will see on the page. In the next few weeks I will try to gain a better orientation of the site while witnessing it as a cyber-flaneur. Other flaneurs however, like to cause ruckus and draw attention to themselves. As mentioned before, these flaneurs are typically those how comment malicious things, rate low and publish harsh reviews on popular books. These posts cause a sort of 'virtual uprising' within the community; many avid readers and fans retaliating and defending their favorite books and authors. Once this drama is created, the flaneur just happens to disappear and say nothing more on the subject.
The flaneur had a longer and more robust existence, which can be explored on Prouty’s following post here.
References:
Barnes, G. (1997). Passages of the Cyber-Flaneur. Retrieved from http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html
deCerteau. (1984). Space and place quote. In Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 4 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au
Huart, L. (1841). Physiology of the Flaneur. [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.thediscriminatingfangirl.com/2013/10/15/goodreads-what-to-do/
Prouty, R. (2009). A turtle on a leash. Retrieved from http://www.onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/10/a-turtle-on-a-leash.html
Prouty, R. (2009). The Flaneur in Bleak House. Retrieved from http://onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/11/the-fl%C3%A2neur-in-bleak-house.html
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