THE PRACTICEOF

EVERYDAY LIFE

Michel de Certeau

Thanslated
by StevenRendall

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Berkeley Los Angeles London
l r+,
I ut l\ qV
ru V
$
l'\ ( , )
 STORY TIME

latter is already at work. Thus it is exemplary that l)6tienne and Vernant

should hav e m a d e th e ms e l v e sth e s to ry te l l e rsof thi s " l abyri nthi ne i ntel -
ligence" ("intelligente en didales"), as Frangoise Frontisi so well terms
i t . ' o T his dis c urs i v ep ra c ti c eo f th e s to ry (l ' h i stoi re\i s both i ts art and i ts Part III
d is c our s e.
A t bot t om , th i s i s a l l a v e ry o l d s to ry . When he grew ol d, A ri stotl e, SpatialPractices
who is not gene ra l l yc o n s i d e re de x a c tl y a ti g htrope dancer,l i ked to l ose
h im s elf in t he m o s t l a b y ri n th i n e a n d s u b tl e of di scourses.H e had then
arrived at the age of mEtis: "The more solitary and isolated I become,
t he m or e I c ome to l i k e s to ri e s ." ' ' H e h a d expl ai nedthe reasonadmi r-
ably: as in the older Freud, it was a connoisseur'sadmiration for the tact
t hat c om pos edh a rm o n i e s a n d fo r i ts a rt o f doi ng i t by surpri se:" The ChapterVII Walking in the City
l ov er of m y t h is i n a s e n s ea l o v e r o f W i s d om, for myth i s composedof
w onder s . " lu

E E Ih-cMa nhat t an f r om t he ll0t h f loor of t he Wor ld Tr ade

C enter. B eneat h t he haze st ir r ed up by t he winds, t he ur ban
. t he
i sl and,a se ain t he m iddle of sea,lif t s up t lie skvscr aperover
s
W al l S treet,si nks down at G r eenwich,t hen r isesagain t o t he cr est sof
Mi dtow n, qui etl y passesover Cent r al Par k and f inally undulat esof f int o
the di stance beyond Har lem . A wave of ver t icals. I t s agit at ion is
momentari l yarrest edby vision. The gigant icm assis im m obilizedbef or e
the eyes. l t i s transf or m ed int o a t ext ur ology in which ext r em es
coi nci de-extremesof am bit ion and degr adat ion,br ut al opposit ionsof
racesand styl es,cont r ast sbet weenyest er day'sbuildings,alr eadyt r ans-
formed i nto trash cans,and t oday's ur ban ir r upt ions t hat block out it s
space.U nl i ke R om e, New Yor k has neverlear nedt he ar t of gr owing old
by pl ayi ng on al l it s past s.I t s pr esentinvent sit self ,f r om hour t o hour ,
i n the act of throwing away it s pr eviousaccom plishm entand s challenging
the future. A ci ty com posedof par oxysm alplacesin m onum ent alr elief s.
The spectatorcan r ead in it a univer set hat is const ant lyexploding.I n it
are inscribed the architectural figures of the coirtt,iclatiooppositorum
formerl y draw n in m iniat ur es and m yst ical t ext ur es.O n t his st age of
concrete,steeland glass,cut out bet weent wo oceans( t he At lant ic and
the A meri can) by a f r igid body of wat er , t he t allestlet t er sin t he wor ld
composea gi gant ic r het or ic of excessin bot h expendit ur eand pr o-
ducti on.'

9t
 WAI,KlNG IN 7-TIECITY I Y A I . K I N G I N T I I E C I7 - I
92

'f he
al oof, by the spac eplanner ur banist , cit y planner or car t ogr apher '
Vo.y,eurs
or walkers panorama-ci tyi s a "t heor et ical"( t hat is, visual) sim ulacr um ,in shor t a
pi cture, w hose condit ion of possibilit yis an oblivion and a m isunder -
To what er ot ic s o f k n o w l e d g e d o e s th e e cstasyof readi ng such a
standi ngof practices.The voyeur - godcr eat edby t his f ict ion, who, like
co s m osbelong' lHa v i n g ta k e n a v o l u p tu o u sp l e asurei n i t, I w onder w hat
S chreber' sGod, knows only cadaver s, 4m ust disent anglehim self f r om
i s the s our c eof t his p l e a s u reo f " s e e i n gth e w h o l e," of l ooki ng dow n on,
the murky i ntertwiningdaily behavior sand m ake him selfalien t o t hem ,
to ta liz ingt he r nos ti m m o d e ra teo 1 ' h u ma nte x ts .
T o be lif t ed t o th e s u m m i t o f th e Wo rl d T ra de C enter i s to be l i fted J' he ordi nary p r act it ioner sof t he cit y live "down below, " below t he
o u t of t he c it y ' s g ra s p . O n e ' s b o d y i s n o l o n g er cl aspedby the streets threshol dsat w hi ch visibilit y begins.They walk- an elem ent ar yf or m of
th at t ur n and r et u rn i t a c c o rd i n g to a n a n o n ymous l aw ; nor i s i t pos- thi s experi enceof t he cit y, t hey ar e walker s, l! / ander snr iinnerwhose ,
bodi esfol l ow the t hicks and t hins of an ur ban "t ext " t hey wr it e wit hout
sessed, whether as player or played, by the rumble of so many differences
bei ngabl e to read it . Thesepr act it ioner s m ake use of spaces t hat cannot
a n d by t he ner v ou s n e s os f N e w Yo rk tra ffi c . When one goesup there,he
l e av esbehind t he m a s sth a t c a rri e so ff a n d m i x e s up i n i tsel fany i denti ty be seen;thei r kno wledgeof t hem is as blind as t hat of lover s in each
of authors or spectators. An lcarus flying above these waters, he can other' s arms. The pat hs t hat cor r espondin t his int er t wining,unr ecog-
i g nor e t he dev ic e s o f D a e d a l u s i n mo b i l e a n d endl essl abyri nths far ni zed poems i n which each body is an elem entsignedby m any ot her s,
b e low. His elev a ti o n tra n s fi g u re sh i m i n to a voyeur. It puts hi m at a el ude l egi bi l i ty. It is as t hough t he pr act icesor ganizinga bust lingcit y
w ere characteri z edby t heir blindness. 5 The net wor ks of t hesem oving,
d i s t anc e.I t t r ans fo rms th e b e w i tc h i n g w o rl d by w hi ch one w as " pos-
se s s ed"int o a t ex t th a t l i e s b e fo re o n e ' s e y e s .l t al l ow s one to read i t, to i ntersecti ngw ri ti ngs com posea m anif old st or y t hat has neit heraut hor
b e a s olar E y e, loo k i n g d o w n l i k e a g o d . T h e e xal tati on of a scopi cand nor spectator,sha pedout of f r agm ent sof t r aject or iesand alt er at ionsof
spaces:i n rel ati o n t o r epr esent at ions, it r em ainsdaily and indef init ely
g n os t ic dr iv e: t he fi c ti o n o f k n o w l e d g e i s re l ated to thi s l ust to be a
other.
vi ewpointand not h i n g m o re .
Escapingthe imaginary totalizationsproducedby the eye,the everyday
M us t one f inal l y fa l l b a c k i n to th e d a rk s p ace w here crow ds move
has a certai n stra ngeness t hat doesnot sur f ace,or whosesur f aceis only
b a c k and f or t h, c r o w d s th a t, th o u g h v i s i b l efro m on hi gh, are themsel ves
i ts upper l i mi t, ou t lining it selfagainstt he visible.Wit hin t his ensem ble,I
u n ablet o s eedow n b e l o w ?A n Ic a ri a n fa l l . On the I l Oth fl oor, a poster,
shal l try to l ocate t he pr act icest hat ar e f or eign t o t he "geom et r ical"or
sp hinx - lik e,addr e s s e a s n e n i g m a ti cme s s a g eto the pedestri anw ho i s for
" geographi cal "sp aceof visual, panopt ic, or t heor et icalconst r uct ions.
an instant transformed into a visionarv: It's hard to be clow,nw'hen
you're up. These practicesof spacerefer to a specificform of operalions("ways of
l ' he des ir et o s e eth e c i ty p re c e d e dth e m e a n sof sati sfyi ngi t. Medi eval operati ng" ), to " anot her spat ialit y"6( an "ant hr opological, "poet ic and
mythi c experi enceof space) and , t o an opoqLt eanclblind m obilit y char -
o r R enais s anc e pa i n te rsre p re s e n te dth e c i ty a s seeni n a perspecti ve that
acteri sti cof the b ust ling cit y. A m igr at ionai,or m et aphor ical,cit y t hus
n o ey e had y et en j o y e d .2T h i s fi c ti o n a l re a d y macJethe medi evalspec-
ta to r int o a c eles ti a le y e . It c re a te d g o d s . fl ave thi ngs changedsi nce sl i psi nto the cl eart ext of t he plannedand r eadablecit y
te chnic alpr oc edu re sh a v e o rg a n i z e da n " a l l -s e e i ngpow er" ?rThe total i z-
i n g ey e im agined b y th e p a i n te rso f e a rl i e r ti mes l i ves on i n our achi eve- l. Fronr the conceptq/'the citl' to urbun practi{es
me nt s .T he s ar nes c o p i c d ri v e h a u n ts u s e rso f a rchi tecturalproducti ons
b y m at er ializ ingto d a y th e u to p i a th a t y e s te rd ayw as onl y pai nted.The T' heW or-l dTrade Cent eris only t he m ost nt onum ent alf igur e of West er n
l 3 7 0f oot high t ow e r th a t s e rv e sa s a p ro w fo r Manhattan conti nuesto urban devel opm ent .The at opia- ut opia of opt ical knowledgehas long
co n s t r uc t t he f ic ti o n th a t c re a te sre a d e rs ,m a k es the compl exi ty of the had the arnbi ti on of sur m ount ing and ar t iculat ing t he cont r adict ions
ci ty r eadable,and i mmo b i l i z e si ts o p a q u emo b i l i ty i n a transparenttext. ari si ngfrom urban agglom er at ion.I t is a quest ionof m anaginga gr owt h
of human aggl omer at iclnor accunlulat ion."The cit y is a huge m onas-
Is t he im m ens e te x tu ro l o g y s p re a d o u t b e fore one' s eyes anythi ng
mo r e t han a r ep r€ s e n ta ti o n a , n o p ti c a l a rti fact? l t i s the anal ogue of tery," sai d E rasmus.Per spect ivevision and pr ospect ivevision const t t ut e
th e f ac s im ile pr o d u c e d , th ro u g h a p ro j e c ti o n that i s a w ay of keepi ng the tw ofol d pro.ject ionof an opaquepast and an uncer t ainf ut ur e ont o a
 ,YAI,KlNG IN 7-HECITY WAI,KING IN THE CITY 95

surface that can be dealt with. They inaugurate (in the sixteenth cen- to be rei ntroduced int o adm inist r at ive cir cuit s and t r ansf or m s even
tury?) the transformation of the urban fat't into the concept of a city. defi ci enci es(i n healt h,secur it y,et c. ) int o ways of m aking t he net wor ks
L o ng bef or et he co n c e p ti ts e l f g i v e s ri s e to a p a rti cul arfi gure of hi story, of order denser.B ut in r ealit y, it r epeat edlypr oducesef f ect scont r ar y t o
i t as s um est hat t h i s fa c t c a n b e d e a l t w i th a s a uni ty determi nedby an those at w hi ch i t aim s: t he pr of it syst emgener at esa loss which, in t he
urbanistic ratio. Linking the city to the concept never makes them multiple forms of wretchednessand poverty outside the system and of
i d ent ic al,but it p l a y s o n th e i r p ro g re s s i v es y mbi osi s:to pl an a ci ty i s w aste i nsi de i t, const ant lyt ur ns pr oduct ion int o "expendit ur e. "M or e-
both to think the very pluralily of the real and to make that way of over, the rati onal i z at ionof t he cit y leadst o it s m yt hif icat ionin st r at egic
th i nk ing t he plur a l e .ffe c ti v ei;t i s to k n o w h o w to arti cul ate i t and be discourses,which are calculationsbasedon the hypothesisor the neces-
a b le t o do it . si ty of i ts destructi onin or der t o ar r ive at a f inal decision. eFinally, t he
functi onal i storganizat ion,by pr ivilegingpr ogr ess( i. e. ,t im e) , causest he
An oper at ionalc o n c e p t? condi ti on of i ts own possibilit y- space it self - t o be f or got t en; space
thus becomesthe bl ind spot in a scient if icand polit ical t echnology.This
Th e " c it y " f ounde d b y u to p i a n a n d u rb a n i s ti c di scourseTi s defi ned by i s the w ay i n w hi ch t he Concept - cit yf unct ions;a place of t r ansf or m a-
th e pos s ibilit yof a th re e fo l do p e ra ti o n : ti ons and appropri at ions,t he object of var ious kinds of int er f er encebut
l. The production of its own space (un espacepropre): rational al so a subj ectthat i s const ant lyenr ichedby new at t r ibut es,it is sim ul-
o rganiz at ion m ust th u s re p re s s a l l th e p h y s i cal , mental and pol i ti cal taneouslythe machineryand the hero of modernity.
p ollut ionst hat wo u l d c o m p ro m i s ei t; Today, w hateverthe avat ar sof t hii concept m ay have been,we have
2 . t he s ubs t it u ti o n o f a n o w h e n , o r o f a s ynchroni csystem,for the to acknow l edgethat if in discour set he cit y ser vesas a t ot alizing and
i n d et er m inablean d s tu b b o rn re s i s ta n c e o s ffe r ed by tradi ti ons;uni vocal al most mythi cal l andm ar k f or socioeconom icand polit ical st r at egies,
scient if ics t r at egi e sma, d e p o s s i b l eb y th e fl a tte ni ngout of al l the data i n urban life increasinglypermits the re-emergenceof the elementthat the
a p lane pr ojec t io n ,m u s t re p l a c eth e ta c ti c s o f usersw ho take advantage urbanistic project excluded. The languageof power is in itself "urbanrz-
o f " oppor t unit ies " a n d w h o , th ro u g h th e s e trap-events,thesel apsesi n i ng," but the ci ty i s lef t pr ey t o cont r adict or ym ovem ent st hat count er -
vi s ibilit y ,r epr odu c eth e o p a c i ti e so f h i s to ry e v eryw here; bal anceand combi ne t hem selvesout side t he r each of panopt ic power .
3. finally, the creation of a universal and anonymous subjet'twhich is The ci ty becomesthe dom inant t hem e in polit ical legends,but it is no
th e c it y it s elf : it g ra d u a l l y b e c o me sp o s s i b l eto attri bute to i t, as to i ts longer a field of programmed and regulated operations. Beneath the
p o lit ic al m odel, H o b b e s ' Sta te ,a l l th e fu n c ti o nsand predi catesthat w ere di scourses that i deologizet he cit y, t he r usesand com binat ionsof power s
previously scattered and assigned to many different real subjects- that have no readableidentity proliferate;without points where one can
g ro ups ,as s oc iat i o n so, r i n d i v i d u a l s ." T h e c i ty , " l i ke a proper name,thus take hol d of them, wit hout r at ional t r anspar ency,t hey ar e im possiblet o
p rov idesa way o f c o n c e i v i n ga n d c o n s tru c ti ngspaceon the basi s of a admi ni ster.
fi nit e num ber of sta b l e ,i s o l a ta b l e a , n d i n te rc o nnectedproperti es.
A dm inis t r at ion i s c o m b i n e d w i th a p ro c e s sof el i mi nati oni n thi s pl ace
o rganiz ed by " s p e c u l a ti v e "a n d c l a s s i fi c a to ryoperati ons."On the one
The return of practices
hand, there is a differentiation and redistribution of the parts and func-
ti ons of t he c it y , a s a re s u l t o f i n v e rs i o n s ,d i s p l acements, accumul ati ons, The C oncept-ci tyi s decaying.Does t hat m ean t hat t he illnessaf f lict ing
e tc . ; on t he ot her th e re i s a re j e c ti o no f e v e ry t hi ngthat i s not capabl eof both the rati onal i ty t hat f ounded it and it s pr of essionalsaf f lict s t he
b e i ng dealt wit h in th i s w a y a n d s o c o n s ti tu te sthe " w asteproducts" of a urban popul ati onsa s well? Per hapscit ies ar e det er ior at ingalong wit h
fu n c t ionalis tadm i n i s tra ti o n (a b n o rm a l i ty ,d e vi ance,i l l ness,death,etc.). the proceduresthat organized them. But we must be careful here. The
To be s ur e,pr ogre s sa l l o w s a n i n c re a s i n gn u m b er of thesew asteproducts mi ni stersof know l e dge have always assum edt hat t he whole univer se
 I , ''A I , K I N G I N T H E C I T Y W ,4I.K IN GIN TTIECI TY
96

and
was threatened by the very changes that affected their ideologies 2. The thorus of idle,footsteps
i nto
th eir pos it ions . T h e y tra n s n )u te th e m i s fo rtu ne of thei r theori es
thei r bew i l derment i nto
th eor ies of m is f o rtu n e . w h e n th e y tra n s fo rm "The goddesscan be recognizedby her step"
"cat as t r ophes , wh " e n th e y s e e k to e n c l o s eth e peopl e i n the " pani c" of Yir gll, Aeneid,1, 405
th eir dis c our s esare, th e y o n c e mo re n e c e s s a ri ly ri ght?
th e fi e l d o f a d i scoursethat uphol ds i ts Thei r story begi nson gr ound level,wit h f oot st eps.They ar e m yr iad, but
Rat her t han r em a i n i n gw i th i n
o f c atastrophe and no l onger do not composea s er ies.They cannot be count edbecauseeachunit has
p ri vilegeby inv erti n g i ts c o n te n t (s p e a k i n g
one a qual i tati vecharact er :a st yle of t act ile appr ehensionand kinest het ic
o f pr ogr es s ) ,one c a n try a n o th e r p a th : o n e c an try another path:
an appropri ati on. l -heir swar m ing m ass is an innum er ablecollect ion of
ca n analy z e t he m i c ro b e -l i k e , s i n g u l a r a n d p l ural practi cesw hi ch
a d m i n i s ter or suppress' but w hi ch si ngul ari ti es.Thei r int er t wined pat hs give t heir shape t o spaces.They
u rb anis t ic s y s t em w a s s u p p o s e d to
acti vi ty of these w eavepl acestogeth er .I n t hat r espect ,pedest r ianm ovem ent sf or m one
h av e out liv ed it s d e c a y ; o n e c a n fo l l o w th e s warrni ng
of these" real system swhoseexist encein f act m akesup t he cit y. "" They
p roc edur est hat , l a r fro m b e i n g re g u l a te d o r el i mi nated by panopttc
are not l ocal i zed;it is r at her t hey t hat spat ialize.They ar e no m or e
a d m inis t r at ion,ha v e re i n fo rc e dth e m s e l v e si n a prol i ferati ngi l l egi ti macy,
insertedwithin a containerthan those Chinesecharactersspeakerssketch
d e v elopedand in s i n u a te dth e ms e l v e si n to th e netw orks of survei l l ance,
poi nt out on thei r handswit h t heir f inger t ips.
a nd c om bined in a c c o rd w i th u n re a d a b l eb u t stabl etacti csto the
that It i s true that the oper at ionsof walking on can be t r acedon cit y m aps
o f c ons t it ut ingev e ry d a y re g u l a ti o n sa n d s u rr epti ti ouscreati vi ti es
of the i n such a w ay as to t r anscr ibet heir pat hs ( her ewell- t r odden,t her e ver y
a re m er ely c onc e a l e db y th e fra n ti c me c h a n i smsand di scourses
fai nt) and thei r traj e ct or ies( goingt his way and not t hat ) . But t heset hick
o bs er v at ionalor g a n i z a ti o n .
as the or thi n curvesonl y r ef er , like wor ds, t o t he absenceof what has passed
T his pat hway co u l d b e i n s c ri b e d a s a c o n sequence'but al so
H e moved by. S urveysof routes m iss what was: t he act it self of passingby. The
re c ipr oc al,of F ou c a u l t' sa n a l y s i so f th e s tru c t uresof pow er.
te c hni cal procedures, " mi nor operati on of w al ki n g, wander ing, or "window shopping, " t hat is, t he
i t in t he dir ec t r o n o f me c h a n i s m sa n d
of " detai l s,"ot acti vi ty of passers- by,is t r ansf or m edint o point s t hat dr aw a t ot alizing
i n s t r um ent alit ie s c" a p a b l e ,me re l y b y th e i r o rg ani zati on
and of and reversi bl el i ne o n t he m ap. They allow us t o gr asponly a r elic set in
trans f or m ing a h u m a n m u l ti p l i c i ty i n to a " d i sci pl i nary" soci ety
devi ances the now hen of a sur f aceof pr oject ion. lt self visible,it has t he ef f ectof
managing, dilf ere n ti a ti n g , c l a s s i fy i n g ,a n d h i erarchi zi ngal l
j u s ti c e , th e arrny, or w ork ' o " l -hese maki ng i nvi si bl e th e oper at ion t hat m ade it possible.These f ixat ions
conc er nt ngappr e n trc e s h i ph, e a l th ,
but fl aw l ess" mecha- consti tuteprocedur esf or f or get t ing.The t r ace lef t behind is subst it ut ed
o l ten m inis c ule r u s e so f d i s c i p l i n e ,"th e s e " m inor
and for the practice.It exhibits the (voracious)property that the geographical
n i s m s , dr aw t hei r e ffi c a c yfro m a re l a ti o n s h i pbetw eenprocedures
out of i t' systemhas of bei ng able t o t r ansf or mact ion int o legibilit y,but in doing
th e s pac et hat t he y re d i s tri b u tei n o rd e r to m a ke an" operator"
i n th e area w here di sci pl i nei s so i t causesa w ay of beingin t he wor ld t o be f or got t en.
Bu t what s pt t lia l p ra t' ti c e sc o rre s p o n d ,
space? ln
manipulat ed,t o th e s ea p p a ra tu s e sth a t p ro d uce a di sci pl i nary
th epr es ent c onju n c tu re ,w l ri c h i s ma rk e d b y a contradi cti onbetw eenthe P edestri anspeechact s
of reappro-
co llec t iv em ode o f a d m i n i s tra ti o n a n d a n i n di vi dual mode
one admi ts that spati al A compari sonw i th t he speechact will allow us t o go f ur t her r 2and not
p r iat ion, t his qu e s ti o n i s n o l e s s i mp o rta n t, i f
of soci al l i mi t oursel vesto the cr it ique of gr aphic r epr esent at ions
alone, looking
p rac t ic esin f ac t s e c re tl ys tru c tu re th e d e te rm i ni ngcondi ti ons
from the shoresof legibilit y t owar d an inaccessible beyond.The act of
l i f e. I wouldlik et o fo l l o w o u ta fe w o fth e s e m u l ti form,resi stance,
w al ki ng i s to the urban syst emwhat t he speechact is t o languageor t o
tr ic k y ands t ubbo rn p ro c e d u re s th a te l u d e d i s ci pl i new i thoutbei ngout.
l ead us to a the statemerrtsutte r ed. '' At t he m ost elem ent ar ylevel, it has a t r iple
si de t he f ield in w h i c h i t i s e x e rc i s e d ,a n d w hi ch shoul d
, f l i v e d s p a c e ,o f the di squi eti ngfami l i ari ty " enunci ati ve" function: it is a pr ocessof appr opr iat ion of t he t opo-
th eor y of ev er y d a yp ra c ti c e s o
graphi cal system on t he par t of t he pedest r ian( ust as t he speaker
o f t he c it y .
98 WALKING IN TTIECIl-Y IT/ALKI NG I N'fTI E CIT'Y 99

appr opr iat esan d ta k e s o n th e l a n g u a g e );i t i s a spati alacti ng-out of the si gni fi ersof the spat ial"language"or by displacingt hem t hr ough t he use
plac e( us t as t he s p e e c ha c t i s a n a c o u s ti ca c t i ng-outofl anguage);and i t he makes of them. He condem nscer t ain placest o iner t ia or disappcar -
i n r pliesr elalion s a mo n g d i ffe re n ti a te dp o s i ti ons, that i s, among prag- anceand compose swit h ot her sspat ial"t ur ns of phr ase"t hat ar e "r ar e, "
m at ic " c ont r ac t s " i n th e fo rm o f mo v e m e n ts(i ust as verbal enunci ati on " acci dental "or i l l egit im at e.I lut t hat alr eady leads int o a r het or ic of
i s an " alloc ut ion ," " p o s i ts a n o th e r o p p o s i te " the speakerand puts con- w al ki ng.
trac t s bet weenin te rl o c u to rsi n to a c ti o n ).' ol t thus seemspossi bl eto gi ve In the framew or k of enunciat ion,t he walker const it ut es.in r elat r onr o
a pr elim inar yde fi n i ti o n o f w a l k i n g a s a s p a c eof enunci ati on. hi s posi ti on, both a near and a f ar , a her e and a t her e. - f o t he f act t hat
W e c ould m o re o v e r e x te n d th i s p ro b l e m a ti c to the rel ati onsbetw een the adverbshere a nd t her e ar e t he indicat or sof t he locut ionar yseatin
the ac t of wr it i n g a n d th e w ri tte n te x t, a n d even transposei t to the verbal communi ca t ionr 6- a coincidencet hat r einf or cest he par allelism
relat ions hipsbe tw e e nth e " h a n d " (th e to u c h and the tal e of the pai nt- betw eenl i ngui sti c and pedest r ianenunciat ion- we m ust add t hat t his
brush [/e et la geste clu pinteau)) and the finished painting (forms, l ocati on (here-ther e) ( necessar ily im plied by walking and indicat iveof
c olor s ,et c . ) . A t fi rs t i s o l a te d i n th e a re a o f verbal communi cati on,the a present appropr iat ion of space by an "l") also has t he f unct ion of
s peec hac t t ur ns o u t to fi n d o n l y o n e o f i ts a ppl i cati onsthere,and i ts l i n- i ntroduci ng an oth er in r elat ion t o t his "1" and of t hus est ablishinga
g uis t icm odalit y i s me re l y th e fi rs t d e te rm i n a ti onof a much more general conj uncti veand di sjunct ivear t iculat ionof places.I would st r esspar t icu-
distirrction between the forms useclin a system and the ways o./'using l arl y the " phati c" aspect ,by which I m ean t he f unct ion, isolat ed by
th is s y s t em ( i. e ., ru l e s ), th a t i s , b e tw e e n tw o " di fferent w orl ds," si nce Mal i now ski and Ja kobson,of t er m s t hat init iat e,m aint ain,or int er r upt
"the s am et hings " a re c o n s i d e re dfro m tw o o p posi teformal vi ew poi nts. contact, such as " h ello. " "well, well, " et q. r 7Walking, which alt er nat ely
Cons ider edf ro m th i s a n g l e , th e p e d e s tri anspeechact has three char- fol l ow s a path and has f ollower s, cr eat esa r lobile or ganicit y in t he
ac t er is t ic swhic h d i s ti n g u i s hi t a t th e o u ts e t from the spati alsystem:the envi ronment,a seq uenceof phat ic t ot r t oi.And if it is t r ue t hat t he phat ic
p r es ent t, he dis c re te th , e " p h a ti c ." functi on, w hi ch i s a n ef f or t t o ensur ecom m unicat ion,is alr eadychar ac-
F ir s t , if it is t ru e th a t a s p a ti a l o rd e r o rg ani zesan ensembl eof possi - teri sti c of the l anguageof t alking bir ds, just as it const it ut est he "f ir st
bilit ies ( e. g. , by a p l a c e i n w h i c h o n e c a n m o ve) and i nterdi cti ons(e.g., verbal functi on acquir ed by childr en, " it is not sur pr isingt hat it also
b y a wall t hat p re v e n tso n e fro m g o i n g fu rth er), then the w al ker actual - gambol s,' goeson all f our s, dances,and walks about , wit h a light or
i z ess om e of t he s ep o s s i b i l i ti e s l. n th a t w a y , he makesthem exi st as w el l heavy step, l i ke a ser iesof "hellos" in an echoinglabyr int h,ant er ior or
a s em er ge.B ut h e a l s o m o v e s th e rn a b o u t a nd he i nvents others,si nce parallel to informative speech.
th e c r os s ing,dr i fti n g a w a y , o r i m p ro v i s a ti o nof w al ki ng pri vi l ege,trans- The modal i ti eso f pedest r ianenunciat ionwhich a planer epr esent at ion
for m or abando n s p a ti a l e l e me n ts .T h u s C h a rl i e C hapl i n mul ti pl i esthe on a map bri ngs out could be analyzed. They include t he kinds of
pos s ibilit iesof h i s c a n e : h e d o e s o th e r th i n g s w i th the samethi ng and he rel ati onshi pthi s enunciat ionent er t ainswit h par t icularpat hs ( or "st at e-
g oes bey ond t h e l i mi ts th a t th e d e te rmi n a n ts of the obj ect set on i ts ments" ) by accord ing t hem a t r ut l. rvalue ( "alet hr c" m oclalit iesof t he
ut iliz at ion. I n t h e s a m ew a y , th e w a l k e r tra n sformseachspati alsi gni fi er necessary, the i mpossible,t he possible,or t he cont ingent ) an , epist em o-
i n t o s om et hinge l s e .A n d i f o n th e o n e h a n d he actual i zesonl y a few of l ogi cal val ue (" epi st em ic"m odalit ies of t he cer t ain, t he exciuded,t he
th e pos s ibilit ie sfi x e d b y th e c o n s tru c te do rder (he goes onl y here and pl ausi bl e,or the qu est ionable)or f inally an et hical or legal value ( , , de-
not t her e) , on th e o th e r h e i n c re a s e sth e n umber of possi bi l i ti es(for onti c" modal i ti eso f t he obligat or y,t he f or bidden,t he per r nit t ed,or t he
e x am ple, by c r e a ti n g s h o rtc u ts a n d d e to u rs) and prohi bi ti ons (for ex- opti onal ).' 8W al ki ng af f ir m s, suspect s,t r ies out , t r ansgr esses,
r espect s,
a m ple, he f or bid s h i ms e l f to ta k e p a th s g e n eral l yconsi deredaccessi bl e etc., the traj ectoriesit "speaks. "All t he m odalit iessing a par t in t his
o r ev en obligat o ry ). H e th u s ma k e s a s e l e c ti on." The user of a ci ty pi cks chorus, changi ng fr om st ep t o st ep, st eppingin t hr ough pr opor t ions,
o ut c er t ain f r ag m e n ts o f th e s ta te m e n t i n o rder to actual i zethem i n sequences,and i ntensit ieswhich var y accor dingt o t he t im e, t he pat h
secret." I5 taken and the w al ker . Theseenunciat or yoper at ionsar e of an unlim it ed
He t hus c r eat e sa d i s c re te n e s sw, h e th e r b y maki ng choi cesamong the diversity. They thereforecannot be reduceclto their graphic trail.
t00 WALKING IN THE CITY WALKING IN TTIECI7-I

The l ong poe m of walking m anipulat es spat ial or ganizat ions,no

W alk ing r het ori c s matter how pano pt ic t hey m ay be: it is neit her f or eign t o t hem ( it can
The walk ing of p a s s e rs -b yo ffe rs a s e ri e so f turns (tours\ and detours take pl ace onl y wit hin t hem ) nor in conf or m it y wit h t hem ( it does not
that c an be c om p a re dto " tu rn s o f p h ra s e "o r " styl i sti cfi gures."There i s recei vei ts i denti t yf r om t hem ) . I t cr eat esshadowsand am biguit ieswit hin
a rhetoric of walking. l-he art of "turning" phrasesfinds an equivalentin them. It i nserts it s m ult it udinous r ef er encesand cit at ions int o t hen
a n ar t of c om p o s i n g a p a th (to u rn e r u n p a rcol trs). Li ke ordi nary l an- (soci almodel s,cult ur al m or es,per sonalf act or s) .Wit hin t hem it is it self
g uage, ' nt his ar t i mp l i e s a n d c o m b i n e ss ty l e sand uses.S /y/e speci fi es" a the effect of successive encount er sand occasionst hat const ant lyalt er it
linguis t ic s t r uc tu re th a t m a n i fe s tso n th e s ymbol i c l evel ... an i ndi vi d- and make i t the ot her 's blazon: in ot her wor ds, it is like a peddler ,
ual' s f undam en ta lw a y o f b e i n g i n th e w o rl d" ;20i t connotesa si ngul ar. carryi ng something sur pr ising,r r ansver seor at t r act ivecom par ed wit h
I - J s edef ines t he s o c i a l p h e n o me n o n th ro u gh w hi ch a system of com- the usual choi ce.Thesediver seaspect spr ovide t he basisof a r het or ic.
munication manifests itself in actual fact; it refers to a norm. Style and They can evenbe said t o def ineit .
us e bot h hav e to d o w i th a " w a y o f o p e ra ti ng" (of speaki ng,w al ki ng, B y anal yzi ngth is "nr oder nar t of ever ydayexpr ession"as it appear sir r
et c . ) ,but s t y le i n v o l v e sa p e c u l i a r p ro c e s s i n gof the symbol i c,w hi l e use accountsof spatial pr act ices, 28 J. - F. Augoyar d discer nsin it t wo espe-
ref er st o elem e n tso f a c o d e . T h e y i n te rs e c tt o form a styl e of use,a w ay ci al l y fundamentalst ylist icf igur es:synecdoche and asyndet on.The pr e-
o f beingand a w a y o f o p e ra ti n g .2 r domi nanceof theset wo f igur esseem st o m e t o indicat e,in r elat ior rt o
ln int r oduc i n g th e n o ti o n o f a " re s i d i n g rhetori c" (" rhdtori quehabi - tw o compl ement ar ypoles,a f or m al st r uct ur eof t hesepr act ices.S) , net , -
raue" ) , t he f erti l e p a th w a y o p e n e d u p b y A . Mddam2' and systemati zed doche consi stsi n "using a wor d in a sensewhich is par t of anot her
by S . O s t r owe ts k y 2ar n d J .-F . Au g o y a rd ,2 aw e assumethat the " tropes" meani ngof the sam e wor d. "2eI n essence, it nam esa par t inst eadof t he
cataloguedby rhetoric furnish models and hypothesesfor the analysisof w hol e w hi ch i ncl udesit . Thus "sail" is t aken f or "ship" in t he expr ession
way s of appr op ri a ti n g p l a c e s .T w o p o s tu l a tesseemto me to underl i ethe " a fl eet of fi fty sails"; in t he sam eway, a br ick shelt eror a hill is t aken
v alidit y of t his a p p l i c a ti o n : l ) i t i s a s s u m e dthat practi cesof spaceal so for the park i n the nar r at ion of a t r aject or y.Asl, ndet onis t he suppr es-
correspondto manipulationsof the basicelementsof a constructedorder; si on of l i nki ng wor ds such as conjunct ionsand adver bs,eit her wit hin a
2) it is as s um e d th a t th e y a re , l i k e th e tro pes i n rhetori c, devi ati ons sentenceor betw e ensent ences. I n t he sam eway, in walking it select sand
relat iv e t o a s o rt o f " l i te ra l me a n i n g " d e ftn ed by the urbani sti csystem. fragmentsthe spa cet r aver sed,it skips over links and whole par t s t hat it
There would thus be a homology betweenverbal figures and the figures omi ts. From thi s point of view, ever ywalk const ant lyleaps,or skipslike
o f walk ing ( a s ty l i z e ds e l e c ti o na m o n g th e l atter i s al readyfound i n the a chi l d, hoppi ng on one f oot . lt pr act icest he ellipsisof conjunct ive/ oci.
figur esof danc i n g ) i n s o fa r a s b o th c o n s i s ti n " treatments"or operati ons In real i ty, these t wo pedest r ianf igur es ar e r elat ed.Synecdocheex-
bear ingon is ol a ta b l eu n i ts ,2 5a n d i n " a m b i g uousdi sposi ti ons"that di vert pands a spati alelem entin or der t o m ake it play t he r ole of a , , m or e"( a
and dis plac e me a n i n g i n th e d i re c ti o n o f equi vocal ness' iun the w ay a total i ty) and take it s place( t he bicycleor t he pieceof f ur nit ur e in a st or e
t r em ulous im a g e c o n fu s e sa n d m u l ti p l i e s the photographedobj ect. In w i ndow stands f or a whole st r eet or neighbor hood) .Asyndet on, by
t hes e t wo m od e s , th e a n a l o g y c a n b e a c c e pted.I w oul d add that the el i si on,createsa "less, "opensgapsin t he spat ialcont inuur n,and r et ar ns
geom et r ic als p a c eo f u rb a n i s tsa n d a rc h i te ctsseemsto havethe statusof onl y sel ectedpar t s of it t hat am ount alm ost t o r elics, Synecdocher e-
t he " pr oper m e a n i n g "c o n s tru c te db y g ra m m ari ansand l i ngui stsi n order placestotalities by fragments (a /essin the place of a ntore);asyndeton
t o hav e a nor ma l a n d n o rma ti v e l e v e l to w hi ch they can compare the di sconnectsthem by elim inat ing t he conjunct ive or t he consecut ive
drifting of "figurative" language.In reality, this faceless"proper" mean- (nothi ng i n pl ace of som et hing) .Synecdochem akesm or e dense:it am -
ing ( r ' e " pr opr e " s a n s /' i g u re )c a n n o t b e fo u nd i n current use, w hether pl i fi es the detai l and m iniat ur izest he whole. Asyndet on cut s out : lt
v er bal or pede s tri a n ;i t i s me re l y th e fi c ti on produced by a use that i s undoesconti nui ty and under cut sit s plausibilit y.A spacet r eat edin t his
i tsel f
als o par t ic ula r, th e m e ta l i n g u i s ti cu s e o f s ci encethat di sti ngui shes w ay and shaped by pr act icesis t r ansf or m ed int o enlar gedsingular i-
by t hat v er y di s ti n c ti o n .2 ' ti es and separat eislands. r 0Thr ough t hese swellings,shr inkings,and
102 WALKING IN THE CITY WAI.KING IN TTIECITY
103

fr agm ent at ions ,th a t i s ; th ro u g h th e s e rh e tori cal operati onsa spati al

approp.ate lnventory for the rhetoric of the first two
phrasingof an analogical(composedof juxtaposed citations)and elliptical registersof expres-
si on i s equal l y val id f or t he t hir d. I f t her e is a par allelism ,
(m ade of gaps , l a p s e s ,a n d a l l u s i o n s )ty p e i s created.For the techno- it is not onr y
becauseenunciation is dominant in these three areas,
l ogic al s y s t em o f a c o h e re n t a n d to ta l i z i n g space that i s " l i nked" and but also because
i ts di scursi ve(verb ar ized, dr eam ed,or walked) developm entis or ganr zed
simultaneous, the figures of pedestrian rhetoric substitute trajectories as a relation between the prace from which it proceeds(an
th at hav e a m y t h i c a l s tru c tu re ,a t l e a s t i f o n e understandsby " myth" a origin) and
the nowhere it produces(a way of ..goingby").
d is c our s er elat iv eto th e p l a c e /n o w h e re(o r o ri gi n) of concreteexi stence,
' From this point of view, after having compared pedestrian
a s t or y jer r y - bui l t o u t o f e l e m e n tsta k e n fro m common sayi ngs,an al l u- processes
to l i ngui sti cformat ions,we can br ing t hem back
sive and fragmentary story whose gaps mesh with the social practicesit down in t he dir ect ion
of onei ri c fi gurati on, or at least discoveron t hat ot her
sy m boliz es . side what , in a
spati al practi ce,i s insepar ablef r om t he dr eam ed
place. To walk is t o
Figuresare the acts of this stylistic metamorphosisof space.Or rather, l ack a pl ace. It i s the indef init e pr ocessof being
as Rilke puts it, they are moving "trees of gestures'"They move even the absentand in sear chof
a proper. The moving about t hat t he cit y m ult iplies
ri gid and c ont r i v e d te rri to ri e s o f th e me d i co-pedagogi cali nsti tute i n and concent r at es
makesthe ci ty i tselfan im m ensesocialexper ienceof
whic h r et ar ded c h i l d re n fi n d a p l a c e to p l ay and dance thei r " spati al lackinga place- an
experi encethat i s, to be sur e,br oken up int o count less
s t or ies . " r rT hes e " tre e s o f g e s tu re s "a re i n m o vementeveryw here.Thei r t iny depor t at ions
(di spl acements and walks) , com pensat edf or by t he r elat ionships
forests walk through the streets. They transform the scene, but they and
i ntersecti onsof the se exodusest hat int er t wine
c annot be f ix ed i n a c e rta i n p l a c e b y i m a g e s.If i n spi te of that an i l l us- and cr eat e an ur ban
fabi i c, and pl aced u nder t he sign of what ought
tr at ion wer e r eq u i re d ,w e c o u l d m e n ti o n th e fl eeti ngi mages,yel l ow i sh- t o be, ult im at ely,t he
pl acebut i s .nl y a nam e,t he cit y. The ident it y
gr een and m et a l l i c b l u e c a l l i g ra p h i e sth a t how l w i thout rai si ng thei r f ur nishedby t his pr aceis
al l the more symbo r ic( nam ed) because,in spit e
of t he inequar it yof it s
v oic es and em b l a z o n th e ms e l v e so n th e s u bterraneanpassagesof the ci ti zens'posi ti onsan d pr of it s. t her e is onr y pullulat ion
a of passer - by,a
city, "embroideries" composed of letters and numbers, perfect gestures netw ork of resi den ces t em por ar ily appr opr iat edby pedest r iant r af lic,
o f v iolenc e pain te d w i th a p i s to l , Sh i v a s m ade of w ri tten characters, a
shuffl i ng among pre t ensesof t he pr oper ,
a univer seof r ent ed spaces
danc ing gr aphi c s w h o s e fl e e ti n g a p p a ri ti o n s are accompani edby the hauntedby a now her eor by dr eam ed_of
Dlaces.
runlble of subway trains: New York graffiti.
If it is true that .forests of gesturesare manifest in the streets,their
mov em entc anno t b e c a p tu re d i n a p i c tu re , n or can the meani ngof thei r N amesand symbol s
m ov em ent sbe ci rc u ms c ri b e di n a te x t. T h e i r rhetori caltranspl antati on A n i ndi cati on of the r er at ionshipt hat spat ial pr act ices
car r iesaway an d d i s p l a c e sth e a n a l y ti c a l ,c o herentproper meani ngsof ent er t ainwit h
that absencei s furn ished pr eciser yby t heir m anipulat ions
u r banis m ; it c on s ti tu te sa " w a n d e ri n g o f th e semanti c" " produced by of and wit h
" proper" names. The r elat ionshipsbet weent he dir ect ion
m as s est hat m ake s o mep a rts o f th e c i ty d i s a p pearand exaggerateothers, of a war k ( / e
sensde la marche) and the meaning of words (re
d i s t or t ingit , f r ag me n ti n gi t, a n d d i v e rti n g i t fr om i ts i mmobi l e order. sens cres mots) situate
tw o sorts of apparent r ycont r ar y m ovem ent s,one ext r over t
( t o war k is t o
go outsi de), the oth er int r over t ( a m obit it y
under t he st abilit y of t he
3. \t[y'1fit'what "nrakesthings go" si gni fi er). w atki ng is in f act det er m ined by sem ant ic
t r opism s: it is
attracted and repelr ed by nom inat ions whose
T he f igur es of t h e s em o v e me n ts(s y n e c d o c h es, el l i pses,etc.)characteri ze m eaning is not clear ,
w hereasthe ci ty, for it s par t , is t r ansf or m ed f or
both a "symbolic order of the unconscious" and "certain typical processes m any people int o a
" desert"i n w hi ch the m eaningless, indeedt he t er r if ying,no r ongert akes
of s ubjec t iv it ym a n i fe s te di n d i s c o u rs e ." 3 The
3 si mi l ari ty betw een" di s-
the form of shadows but becomes,as in Genet,s
cour s e" l{ and d re a ms r5h a s to d o w i th th e i r use of the same " styl i sti c plays, an implacable
l i ght that producesthis ur ban t ext wit hout obscur it ies,
pr oc edur es " ;it t h e re fo rei n c l u d e sp e d e s tri a npracti cesas w el l . The " an- which is cr eat ed
by a technocrati cpower ever ywher eand which put s
c ient c at alog of tro p e s " th a t fro m F re u d to B enveni stehas furni shedan t he cit y_dweller
under control (unde r t he cont r ol of what ? No
one knows) : . . The cit y
 , I ', 4 I , K I N G I N T I I E C I l 'Y I V A L K I N ( ; I N 7 'H I: C l T) 105

keepsus under i ts g a z e , w h i c h o n e c a n n o t bear w i thout feel i ngdi zzy," I-i nki ng acts an d f oot st eps,opening m eaningsand dir ect ions,t hese
s ay sa r es iden to f R o u e n .1 6l n th e s p a c e sb rutal l y l i t by an al i en reason, w ords operate i n t he nam e of an em pt ying- out and wear ing- awayof
p r oper nam esca rv e o u t p o c k e tso f h i d d e n a nd fami l i ar meani ngs.They thei r pri mary rol e . They becom eliber at edspacest hat can be occupied.
" m ak e s ens e" ;i n o th e r w o rd s , th e y a re th e i mpetus of movements,l i ke A ri ch i ndetermi n at iongivest hem , by m eansof a ser nant icr ar ef act ion,
v oc at ionsand ca l l sth a t tu rn o r d i v e rt a n i ti n eraryby gi vi ng i t a ni eani ng the functi on of art iculat inga second,poet ic geogr aphyon t op of t he
(or a direction) (.sen.r) that was previouslyunforeseen.Thesenamescreate geographyof the l it er al,f or biddenor per m it t edm eaning.They insinuat e
a nowher ein pl a c e s ;th e y c h a n g eth e m i n to p assages. other routes i nto t he f unct ionalistand hist or ical or der of m ovem ent .
A f r iend wh o l i v e s i n th e c i ty o f Sd v re sdri fts, w hen he i s i n P ari s, w al ki ng fol l ow s t hem : "l f ill t his gr ear em pt y spacewit h a beaut if ul
t owar d t he r ue d c s Sa i n ts -P e re sa n d th e ru e de S l l l es, eventhougl .rhe i s na[re." 38P eopl e ar e put in m ot ion by t he r em aining r elics of m ean-
going t o s eehis mo th e r i n a n o th e r p a rt o f to w n: thesenamesarti cul atea rng, and someti mesby t heir wast e pr oduct s, t he inver t ed r em ainder s
s ent enc et hat h i s s te p s c o mp o s e w i th o u t hi s know i ng i t. N umbered of great ambi ti ons. r eThings t hat am ount t o not hing,or alm ost not hing,
s t r eet sand s t r e e t n u m b e rs(l l 2 th St., o r 9 rue S ai nt-C harl es)ori ent the sym-bol i zeand orient walker s'st eps:nam est hat haveceasedpr eciselyt o
m agnet ic f ield o f tra j e c to ri e sj u s t a s th e y can haunt dreams. A nother be " proper."
I l' iendunc or . r s c i o u s re s e s tre e tsw h i ch have namesand, by thi s
l y p re s s e th In thesesymtol izing ker nelst hr ee dist inct ( but connect ed)f unct ions
lac t , t r ans m it h e r-o rd e rs o r i d e n ti ti e si n the same w ay as summonses of the rel ati ons bet weenspat ial and signif yingpr act icesar e indicat ed
l l o n g p aths that have no name or
and c las s if ic a ti o n ss; h e g o e s i n s te a c a (and perhapsfounded): the beliet,able,the ntemorable,and theprimitive.
s ignat ur e.B ut h e r w a l k i n g i s th u s s ti l l c o ntrol l ed negati vel yby proper They desi gnatew ha t "aut hor izes"( or m akespossibleor cr edible)spat ial
nam es . appropri ati ons,w h at is r epeat edin t hem ( or is r ecalledin t hen- rf)r om a
W hat is it t h e n th a t th e y s p e l l o u t' l D i sposedi n constel l ati onsthat si l entand w i thdrawn m em or y, and what is st r uct ur eclin t hem and con-
hier ar c hiz ean d s e m a n ti c a l l y o rd e r th e s u rface of the ci ty, operattng tinuesto be signedby an in-fantile (in-.fons)origin. Thesethree symbolic
c hr onologic al a rra n g e n te n tsa n d h i s to ri c al j usti fi cati ons,these w ords mechani smsorgan ize t he t opoi of a discour seon/ of t he cit y ( legend,
( B or r ego, I J otz u ri s ,B o u g a i n v i l l e ... ) s l o w l y l ose, l i ke w orn coi ns, the memory, and dream ) in a way t hat also eludesur banist icsyst em at icit y.
v alue engr av e do n th e m , b u t th e i r a b i l i ty to si gni fy outl i vesi ts fi rst defi - They can al ready b e r ecognizedin t he f unct ionsof pr oper nam es:t hey
nit ion. S oint s -P i re ,sC, o re n l i n C e l to n , R e d S cl uare.. . thesenamesmake make habi tabl eor b elievablet he place t hat t hey clot he wit h a wor d ( by
t hem s elv esav a i l a b l eto th e d i v e rs en re a n i n gsgi ven them by passers-by; emptyi ng themsel vesof t heir classif yingpower , t hey acquir e t hat of
s m th e p l a c e sth e y w ere supposedto defi neand
t hey c let ac ht he n ' rs e l v efro " permi tti ng" somethingelse) ,t hey r ecall or suggestphant om s( t he deacl
s er v e as ir nag i n a ry m e e ti n g -p o i n tso n i ti n e rari esw hi ch, as metaphors, w ho are supposedto have disappear ed)t hat st ill m ove about , concealecl
t hey det er m in e fo r re a s o n sth a t a re 1 ' o re i gnto thei r ori gi nal val ue but i n gesturesand i n bo diesin m ot ion; and, by'am ing, t hat is, by im posing
r nay be r ec og n i z e do r n o t b y p a s s e rs -b y A . strange toponymy that i s an i nj uncti on proce edingf r om t he ot her ( a st or y) and by alt er ingf unc-
det ac hed [ ' r om a c tu a l p l a c e s a n d fl i e s h i g h over the ci ty l i ke a foggy ti onal i st i denti ty b y det aching t hem selvesf lom it , t hey cr eat e in t he
geogr aphy of " m e a n i n g s " h e l d i n s u s p e nsi on,di recti ng the physi cal pl acei tsel f that ero sion or nowher et hat t he law of t he ot her car vesout
dearnbulations below: Pluce rle I'Etoile, Cont'orde, Pois.sonniire. . . w i thi n i t.
' l- hes ec ons t el l a ti o n so f n a m e s p ro v i d e tra ffi c patterns:they are stars
dir ec t ing it ine ra ri e s . " T h e P l a c e d e l a C oncorde does not exi st,"
C redi bl ethi ngs and m em or ablet hings:habit abilit y
M alapar t e s ai d , " i t i s a n i d e a ." tt l t i s much more than an " i dea." A
whole s er ies o f c o rn p a ri s o n sw o ttl d b e n e cessaryto account for the B y a paradox that is only appar ent , t he discour set hat m akes people
m agic alpower sp ro p e r n a m e se n j o y .T h e y seemto be carri edas embl ems bel i evei s the one th at t akes away what it ur gest hem t o believein, or
by t he t r av elle rstl .re yd i re c t a n d s i m u l ta n e ousl ydecorate. neverdel i versw hat it pr om ises.Far f r om expr essing
a void or clescr ibing
 I,I/AI,KING IN TIIE CITI' W,4I,KINGIN TIIE CITY r07
1 06

used to open up spacet o som et hingdif f er ent . What does t r avel ult i-
a lac k , it c r eat e ss u c h . It ma k e s ro o n l fo r a v oi d. In that w ay, i t opensup
matel y produce i f it is not , by a sor t of r ever sal,"an explor at ionof t he
c lear ings ,it " al l o w s " a c e rta i n p l a y w i th i n a systemof defi nedpl aces.It
desertedpl acesof m y m em or y, " t he r et ur n t o near by exot icismby way
"autlrorizes" the production of an area of free play (Spielraum) on a
of a detour throu gh dist ant places,and t he "discover y"of r elics and
c hec k er boar d th a t a n a l y z e s a n d c l a s s i fi e si denti ti es. It makes pl aces
legends:"fleeting visions of the French countryside,""fragmentsof musrc
h abit able.O n th e s eg ro u n d s , I c a l l s u c h d i s coursea " l ocal authori ty." It
and poetry," aai n shor t , som et hing like an "upr oot ing in one's or igins
i s a c r ac k in t h e s y s te m th a t s a tu ra te sp laces w i th si gni fi cati on and
(H ei degger)?W hat t his walking exile pr oducesis pr eciselyt he body of
i ndeed s o r edu c e sth e m to th i s s i g n i fi c a tion that i t i s " i mpossi bl eto
l egendsthat i s cur r ent ly lacking in one's own vicinit y; it is a f ict ion,
b r eat he in t hem." It i s a s y mp to ma ti c te n d encyof functi onal i sttotal i -
w hi ch moreover has t he double char act er ist ic, like dr eam sor pedest r ian
tar ianis m ( inc l u d i n g i ts p ro g ra m m i n g o f g a mesand cel ebrati ons)that i t
rhetori c,of bei ng the elf ect of displacem entand s condensat ions. o5 As a
seek spr ec is el yto e l i m i n a te th e s e l o c a l a u thori ti es,becausethey com-
corol l ary, one can m easur et he im por t anceof t hesesignif yingpr act ices
pr om is e t he u n i v o c i ty o f th e s y s te m. T o tal i tari ani sm attacks w hat i t
(to tell oneselflegends)as practicesthat invent spaces.
quit e c or r ec t lyc a l l s s u p e rs ti ti o n r's:u p e re ro gatorysemanti coverl aysthat
and annex to a From thi s poi nt of view, t heir cont ent s r em ain r evelat or y,and st ill
ins er t t hem s el v e s" o v e r a n d a b o v e " a n d " i n excess" ' ou
more so i s the pri nciple t hat or ganizest hem . St or iesabout placesar e
past or poetic realm a part of the land the promoters of technical
makeshi ftthi ngs.They ar e com posedwit h t he wor ld'sdebr is.Even if t he
rationalitiesand financial profitabilities had reservedfor themselves.
l i terary form and t he act ant ial schem aof "super st it ions"cor r espondt o
Ult im at ely , s i n c e p ro p e r n a me s a re a l r eady " l ocal authori ti es" or
stabl emodel s w ho se st r uct ur esand com binat ionshave of t en been ana-
" s uper s t it ions ,"th e y a re re p l a c e db y n u mb ers:on the tel ephone,one no
l yzedover the past t hir t y year s,t he m at er ials( all t he r het or icaldet ailsof
longer dials Opera, but 073. The same is true of the stories and legends
thei r " mani festati on")ar e f ur nishedby t he lef t over sf r om nom inat ions,
t hat haunt ur b a n s p a c el i k e s u p e rfl u o u so r addi ti onal i nhabi tants.They
taxonomi es,heroi c or com ic pr edicat es,et c. , t hat is, by f r agm ent sof
ar e t he objec t o f a w i tc h -h u n t, b y th e v e ry l ogi c of the techno-structure.
scatteredsemanti cplaces.These het er ogeneous and even cont r ar y ele-
I lut t heir ex t e rm i n a ti o n (l i k e th e e x te rm i nati on of trees, forests,and
ments fill the homogeneousform of the story. Things extra and other
hidden plac esi n w h i c h s u c h l e g e n d sl i v e )o 'makesthe ci ty a " suspended
(detai l sand exces ses com ing f r om elsewher e)inser t t hem selvesint o t he
s y m bolic or de r." a 2T h e h a b i ta b l e c i ty i s th ereby annul l ed. Thus, as a
acceptedframew or k, t he im posedor der . O ne t hus has t he ver y r elat ion-
wom an f r om R o u e n p u t i t, n o , h e re " th e re isn' t any pl acespeci al ,except
' fh e re i s n ' t anythi ng."N othi ng " speci al " : ship betweenspatial practicesand the constructedorder. The surfaceof
f or m y own ho me , th a t' s a l l . . . .
thi s order i s every wher epunched and t or n open by ellipses,dr if t s, and
not hing t hat is m a rk e d , o p e n e d u p b y a m emory or a story, si gnedby
leaks of meaning:it is a sieve-order.
s om et hing or s o me o n ee l s e .O n l y th e c a v e of the home remai nsbel i ev- ' Ihe verbal rel i c s of which t he st or y com posed,
is being t ied t o lost
able, s t ill open fo r a c e rta i n ti me to l e g e n d s,sti l l ful l of shadow s.E xcept
stori esand opaqueact s,ar ejuxt aposedin a collagewher et heir r elat ions
f or t hat . ac c o rd i n g to a n o th e r c i ty -d w e l l er, there are onl y " pl aces i n
are not thought, an d f or t his r easont hey f or m a sym bolicwhole. ou1- hey
whic h one c an n o l o n g e r b e l i e v ei n a n y th i n g." al
are arti cul atedby l acunae.Wit hin t he st r uct ur edspaceof t he t ext , t hey
I t is t hr oug h th e o p p o rtu n i ty th e y o ffe r to store up ri ch si l encesand
thus produceanti -text s,ef f ect sof dissim ulat ionand escape,possibilit ies
wor dles ss t or i e s ,o r ra th e r th ro u g h th e i r c apaci ty to createcel l arsand
of movi ng i nto other landscapes,like cellar sand bushes:"6 nt assi/ 's, 6
garrets everywhere,that local legends(legencla:what is to be read, but
pluriels."aTBecauseof the processof disseminationthat they open up,
also what t'an be reacl)permit exits, ways of going out and conting back
stori es di ffer from r um or s in t hat t he lat t er ar e always injunct ions,
in, and t hus h a b i ta b l e s p a c e s .C e rta i n l y wal ki ng about and travel i ng
initiators and results of a levelling of space,creatorsof common move-
substitute for exits, for going away and coming back, which were for-
ments that rei nforcean or der by adding an act ivit y of m aking people
merly made available by a body of legendsthat placesnowadays lack'
bel i evethi ngs to that of m aking people do t hings. St or ies diver sif y,
Physicalmoving about has the itinerant function of yesterday'sor today's
rumors total i ze. If t her e is st ill a cer t ain oscillat ionbet weent hem . it
" s uper s t it ions ."T ra v e l (l i k e w a l k i n g ) i s a substi tutefor the l egendsthat
r08 IY A I.K IN GIN TTIEC ITY ,y' A LK th' GIN 7' HECI T. Y
I0 9

s eem st hat t od a y th e re i s ra th e r a s tra ti ficati on:stori esare becomi ng

C hi l dhood and m et aphor sof places
pr iv at e and s in k i n to th e s e c l u d e dp l a c e si n nei ghborhoods,farni l i es,or
indiv iduals ,wh i l e th e ru m o rs p ro p a g a te db y the medi a cover everythi ng M et aphorconsist sin givingt he t hing
and, gat her edu n d e r th e fi g u re o f th e C i ty , t he masterw ordof an anony- a nant e t hat belongst o som et hins
m ous law, t he s u b s ti tu tefo r a l l p ro p e r n a m es,they w i pe out or combat else.
any s uper s t it i o n sg u i l ty o f s ti l l re s i s ti n gth e fi gure.
Anst ot le, poet ics.1457b
T he dis per s i o no f s to ri e sp o i n ts to th e d i s persi onof the memorabl eas
' rhe
well. A nd in f a c t me mo ry i s a s o rt o f a n ti -museum:i t i s not l ocal i zabl e. memorabl e i s t hat which can be r ir eam ed
about a pr ace. I n t his
F r agm ent sof i t c o m e o u t i n l e g e n d s O . b j e c tsand w ords al so havehol l ow pl ace that i s a palim psest ,subject ivit y
is alr eady linked t o t he absence
plac esin which a p a s t s l e e p s ,a s i n th e e v e rydayacts of w al ki ng, eati ng. that structuresi t as exist enceand
m akesit "be t her e, , Dasein., But as we
going t o bed, i n w h i c h a n c i e n t re v o l u ti o n ssl umber.A memory i s onl y a haveseen,thi s being- t her eact s only
in spat iarpr act ices,t hat is, r n wQ . t , , ,
P r inc e Char m i n g w h o s ta y sj u s t l o n g e n o ugh to aw aken the S l eepi ng o.f nrct,ing into something di/rbrent (ntaniires
crepa.sserd,aurre). It
B eaut iesof ou r w o rd l e s s s to ri e s . " H e re , there used to be a bakery." must urti matery be seen as t he r epet it ion,
in diver ser net aphor s,oi a
" T hat ' . swher e o l d l a d y D u p u i s u s e d to l i v e ." It i s stri ki ng here that the deci si veand ori gi nar y exper ience,t her t
of t he child'sdif f er e't iat ionir om
plac espeoplel i v e i n a re l i k e th e p re s e n c e os f di verseabsences. W hat can the mother' s body. I t is t hr ough
t hat exper iencet hat t he possibr lit yof
be s eendes ign a te sw h a t i s n o l o n g e r th e re : " you see,here there used to spaceand of a l ocar izat ion( a "not
ever yt hing, ')of t he subject is in_
be. . . , " but it c a n n o l o n g e r b e s e e n . D e monstrati vesi ndi catethe i n- augurated.w e nee d not r et ur n t o
t he f am ous analysisf jr eud m ade of .
v is ible ident it i e so f th e v i s i b l e :i t i s th e v e ry defi ni ti on of a pl ace,i n fact, thi s matri x-experienceby f ollowing
t he gam e playe. by his eight een-
t hat it is c om p o s e db y th e s e s e ri e so f d i s p l acements and effectsamong month-ol d grandson,who t hr ew a , eel
away t r om him self ,cr ying olt - oh_
t he f r agm ent e d s tra ta th a t fo rm i t a n d th at i t pl ays on these movi ng oh i n pl easure,fort! ( i. e. , . 'overt her e, , , , , gone, , , or . , no
m or e, , )and t hen
lay er s . pul l ed i t back w i th r he piece
of st r ing at t achedt o it wit h a delight ed
" M em or ies ti e u s to th a t p l a c e .... It' s personal ,not i nteresti ngto tl al (i ' e' , " here," "back again") ; "
it suf 'f r cesher e t o r em em ber t his
any onc els e, b u t a fte r a l l th a t' s w h a t g i ves a nei ghborhoodi ts char- (peri l ousand sati s f ied)pr ocess
of det achr nentf r om incr if f . er ent iat io'
the mother' s body, whose subst it ut e in
ac t er . " oo' f herei s n o p l a c e th a t i s n o t h a u n ted by many di fferent spi ri ts is t he spoor : t his depar t ur eof t 'e
hidden t her e in s i l e n c e ,s p i ri ts o n e c a n " i n voke" or not. H aunted pl aces mother (someti rnes shedisappear sby her . selfsom , et im est he child m aKes
ar e t he only on e s p e o p l ec a n l i v e i n -a n d t hi s i nvertsthe schemaof the her di sappear)const it ut esr ocalizat ion
ancjext er r or it yagainstt he back_
P anopt ic on.B u t l i k e th e g o th i c s c u l p tu re sof ki ngs and queensthat once ground of a' absence' Ther e
is a joyf ul r nanipulat iont hat can
maternalobj ect ,,go away" and m ake t he
ador ned Not r e -D a me a n d h a v e b e e n b u ri ed for tw o centuri esi n the m ake , r t e'elf .disappear( insof aras one
bas em ent of a b u i l d i n g i n th e ru e d e l a C haussde-d' A nti n,ae these consi dersoneserfi d ent ical wit h t hat
object ) , r naking it possibr et o be
" s pir it s , " t hem s e l v e sb ro k e n i n to p i e c e si n l i ke manner,do not speakany there(because)w i thout t he ot her
but in a necessar ryelat iont o what has
m or e t han t he y s e e .T h i s i s a s o rt o f k n o w l edgethat remai nssi l ent.Onl y di sappeared; thi s manipulat ionis an "or iginal
spat ialst r ucr ur e. , ,
hint s of what i s k n o w n b u t u n re v e a l e da re passedon' Just betw eenyou N o doubt one cou ld t r ace t his dif f er e- nt iat r on
lur t r r er back, as f ar as
and nr e. " the' ami ng tl ' ratsep ar at est he
f 'oet usident if ied as m asculinef r om
mother-but how about t he f em ale his
P lac esar e f ra g me n ta rya n d i n w a rd -tu rn i nghi stori es,paststhat others who is f r om t his ver y nl. m ent
ar e not allowe d to re a d . a c c u m u l a te dti m e s tl rat can be unfol dedbut l i ke i ntroduced i nto anot her r er at ionship 'oett ous,space?I n t he init iat or y gar ne,
s t or iesheld in re s e rv e ,re rn a i n i n gi n a n e n i gmati cstate,symbol i zati ons Justas l n the ' Joyful a ct ivit y" of t he child who,
st andingbef . or ea m ir r or ,
er . r c y s t edin t h e p a i n o r p l e a s u reo f th e b o dy. " l feel good here" :5"the seesrtsel fas one (rt is sle or
f t e, seenas a whole) bnt unot her ( t har ,
tmagew i th w hi ch the chit d ident if ies an
well- beingund e r-e x p re s s e d i n th e l a n g u a gei t appearsi n l i ke a fl eeti ng it self ) , 52
*f r o, . ou, r i, ; ; "; ; r ; '; ; ; . . r ,
glinr m eris a s p a ti a lp ra c ti c e . of thi s " spati al captat ion" t hat
inscr ibest he passaget owar d t he ot her
as
il0 WAI.KING ]N THE CITY

the law of being and the law of place.To practice spaceis thus to repeat
' t he joy f ul an d s i l e n t e x p e ri e n c eo f c h i l d h ood; i t i s, i n a pl ace,to be other
and to tnove towerd the other.
Thus beginsthe walk that Freud comparesto the trampling underfoot ChapterVtrII Railway Navigation
of t he m ot he r-l a n d .5 3 T h i s re l a ti o n s h i po f onesel fto onesel fgovernsthe
int er nal alt e ra ti o n s o f th e p l a c e (th e re l ati ons among i ts strata) or the and Incarceration
pedestrianunfolding of the storiesaccumulatedin a place(moving about
the city and travelling).The childhood experiencethat determinesspatial
practiceslater developsits effects,proliferates,floods private and public
s pac es ,undo e s th e i r re a d a b l es u rfa c e s ,a nd createsw i thi n the pl anned
city a "metaphorical" or mobile city, like the one Kandinsky dreamedof: TNcARCERA'f r oN.
TR A vEI - Lr NG lm m obile insiciet he t r ain, seeing
" a gr eat c it y b u i l t a c c o rd i n g to a l l th e rul es of archi tectureand then i mmobile t hings slip by. What is happening?Not hing is m oving
s uddenlys ha k e nb y a fo rc e th a t d e fi e sa l l cal cul ati on." 5a i nsi deor out sidet he t r ain.
The unchang ingt r aveller is pigeonholed,num ber ed,and r egulat edin
the gri d of the railway car , which is a per f ectact ualizat ionof t he r at ional
utopi a. C ontrol and f ood m ove f r om pigeonholet o pigeonhole:"Ticket s,
pl ease.. . " " S a ndwiches?Beer ?Cof f ee?.. . " O nly t he r est r oom sof f er
an escapefrom t he closedsyst em .They ar e a lover s'phant asm ,a way
out for the i l l , a n escapadef or childr en ( "Wee- weel") - a lit t le spaceof
irrationality, like love affairs and sewersin the Utopias of earlier times.
E xcept for thi s lapsegiven over t o excesses, ever yt hinghas it s placein a
gri dw ork. Oni y a r at ionalized cell t r avels. A bubble of panopt ic ancl
cl assi fyi ngpow er , a m odule of im pr isonm entt hat m akes possiblet he
producti on of a n or der , a closed and aut onom ous insular it y- t hat is
what can traversespaceand make itself independentof local roots.
Insi de,there i s t he im m obilit y of an or der . Her e r estand dr eam sleign
supreme.There is not hing t o do, one is in t he st at eof r eason.Ever yt hing
is in its place, as in Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Every being is placed
there like a piece of printer's type on a page arrangedin military order.
Thi s order, an or ganizat ionalsyst em ,t he quiet udeof a cer t ainr eason,is
the condi ti on of bot h a r ailwav car 's and a t ext 's m ovem entf r om one
pl aceto another .
Outsi de,there is anot her im m obilit y, t hat of t hings, t ower ing nt oun-
tai ns, stretchesof gr eenf ield and f or est ,ar r est edvillages,colonnadesof
bui l di ngs, bl ack ur ban silhouet t esagainst t he pink evening sky, t he
tw i nkl i ng ol no ct ur nal light s on a sea t hat pr ecedesor succeedsour
histories. The train generalizesDr.irer'sMelancholia, a speculativeex-
peri enceof the wor ld: being out side of t hese t hings t hat st ay t her e,
detachedand ab solut e,t hat leaveus wit hout havinganyt hingt o do wit h

lil
2t8 NO?'ES7-OPP.82-94 NOTES 'rO PP. 95- t00 2t9

7. "Memo ry," in the anc ients ens eof t he t er m , whic h d e s i g n a t e sa p r e s e n c et o 9. SeeAnd16 Glucksmann,"l-e l otalitarismeen effet," Trat'erse.t, No. 9, I977,
the plura lity o f times a nd is t hus not lim it ed t o t he pas t . 34-40.
8. E xp ressio nsin qu ot at ion m ar k s in t his s ec t ion a r e f r o m D 6 t i e n n e a n d f 0. M. Foucault, Surveiller e! punir (Paris: Gallimard, 1975);Disciplineand
Vernant, Les Rusesde I'intelligenrc,23-25. P u n i s h ,t r a n s .A . S h e r i d a n( N e w Yo r k: Pa n th e o n ,1 9 7 7 ) .
9. S ee M. d e Certe au ,"[ . ' Et r ange s ec r et .M anibr e d' 6c r i r ep a s c a l i e n n e , "R i v i s t a l f . C h . A l e x a n d e r , " l . a C i te se m i - tr e i l l i s, m a i s n o n a r b r e ," Ar ch i te cl u r e ,
di Storia e LetteratltraReligiosa,l3 ( 1977),104-126. Mouventertt, Continuiti, 196'1 .
10. See Maurice Halbwachs, Les Cadres sotiaux tle la rninroire (La Haye: 12. See R. Barthes'sremarksit Architetture d'aujoLtrcl'hui, No. 153,December
Mouron. 19 75 ). I 9 7 0 - J a n u a r y 1 9 7I , l l - 1 3 : "We sp e a k o u r ci ty. . . m e r e l y b y i n h a b i ti n g i t,
f l. See FrancesA. Yates, The Art o/'Mentor.t'(London: Routledgear.rdKegan walking through it, looking at it." Cf. C. Soucy, L'[ntage du centretlans quatre
P aul, 196 6). r o n l o n s c o n t e n t p o r a i t t (r P a r i s:C SU , 1 9 7l ) , 6 - 1 5 .
12. Seebelow, Part IV, Usesof Language. 1 3 . S e e t h e n u m e r o u ss tu d i e sd e vo te dto th e su b j e ctsi n ceJ. Se a r l e 's"Wh a t i s
13. Seeb elo w, a nd al s o abov e in Chapt er ll, p. 22. a Speech Act?" in Philosoph.r,itt Anterita, ed. Max Black (London: Allen &
I4. Frangoise Frontisi-l)ucroux, L)idale. Ilvthologie de l'artisan en Grice U n w i r r ; l t h a c a , N . Y . : C o r ne l l [Jn i ve r si tyPr e ss,1 9 6 5 ) ,2 2 1 - 2 3 9 .
ancienn e(Pa ris: Maspe r o, 1975) . 14. E. Ilenveniste,Problime.stle linguisriqLte ghttlrale(Paris:Gallimard, lr914),
15. Aristo tle, l'-ra gm ent o,ed. V. Ros e ( St ut t gar t : T e u b n e r , I 9 6 7 ) f r a g n e n t 1 1 , 7 9 - U 8 ,e t c .
668. 15. R. Barthes,quoted in C. Soucy, l.'lntage du centre, 10.
16. Aristo tle. trleta ph. r s ic sA,, 2, 982 bl8. 16. "Here and nr.rrrdelimit the spatial and temporal instancecoextensiveand
c o n t em p o r a r y w i t h t h e p r e se n ti n sta n ceo f d i sco u r seco n ta i n i n gI": E. Be n ve n i stc,
Prohlimes de linguistiquegindrale (Paris: Gallimard, 1966),l, p. 253.
7 . " lYalking in the Cit.t"' 17. R. .lakobson, l-s.rar de lingui.stiquegdndrule(Paris: Seuil Points, 1970),
p.217.
l. See Alain M6dam's admirable "New York City," Les Tentps ntodernes, f 8. On nrodalities,see [I. Parret, La Pragntatique des ntodalitd.s(Urbino:
A ugust-se pte mbe r 19 76, l5- 33; and t he s am e aut ho r 's N e v , Y o r k T e r n t i n a l C e n t r c rd i S e m i o t i c a ,1 9 7 5) ;A. R . Wh i te , M o r l a l 'l - h i n ki l r g( l th a ca , N .Y.: C o r n e l l
( P aris:Galil6 e, 19 71 ). [ J n i v e r s i t yP r e s s ,1 9 7 5 ) .
2. See tl. l.avedan, Les Reprdsentationsdes t,illes dan.sI'art du Moyen Age 19. See Paul Lernaire'sanalyses,l.es Signessauvoges.Llne Philosophiedu
(Paris: Van Oest, 1942); R. Wittkower, Arthitet'rural Principles in rhe Age <.t[ langageortlinaire (Ottawa: Universit6d'Ottawa et UniversitdSaint-lraul, l98 l).
Iluntanisnr (New York: Norton, 1962\; L. lr,tarin, Lltopiques:.leux d'espat'es i n p a r t i c u l a rt h e i n l r o d u c ti o n .
(P aris: Min uit, 19 73 );et c . 2 0 . A . - 1 . G r e i m a s , " l - i n g u i sti q u e sta ti sti q u ee t l i n g u i sti q u estr u ctu r a l e ,"/_ e
3. M . Fou ca ult, "l-'O eil du pouv oir , " in. l. Bent ham , L e P a n o p t i q l e ( P a r i s : Franqai.s rnoderne,October 1962,245.
B elfond, 19 71 \,16 . 2 1 . I n a n e i g h b o r i n g f i e l d , r h e to r i c a n d p o e ti cs i n th e g e stu l a l l a n g u a g eo f
4. D.P.Sch reb er, 1l' I im oir es d' wr niv r opar lr e( Par is:S e u i l , 1 9 7 5 ) , 4 l , 6 0 , e t c . m u t e p e o p l e , I a m g r a t e f ul to E. S. Kl i m a o f th e U n i ve r si ty o f C a l i fo r n i a , Sa n
5. Descartes,in his Regllae, had already made the blind man the guarantor D i e g o a n d t J . B e l l u g i , " P o e tr y a n d So n g i n a l ,a n g u a g ew i th o u t So u n d ," a n
of t he kno wled ge o f things and plac es agains t t he illu s i o n s a n d d e c e p t i o n so f r u n p u b l i s h e dp a p e r ; s e e a l so Kl i m a , "Th e l - i n g u i sti c Sym b o l w i th a n d w i th o u t
vision . Sound." in l-he Role of Speechin Languuge,ed. .1.Kavanaghand J. E. Cuttings
6. M. Merleau-Ponty, PhtnLtnftnologie de la per(eptiott (Paris: Gallimard ( C a m b r i d g e .M a s s . : M l 1 '. 1 9 7 5 ) .
T el, 1976 ),33 2-3 13 . 22. Conscient'ede la viiie (Paris: Anthropos, 1977).
7. Se e F. Ch oa y, "Figur es d' un dis c our s inc onnu , " C r i t i q u e , A p r i l 1 9 7 3 , 23. See Ostrowetsky, "Logiques du lieu," in Sdntiotique de I'espace(Paris..
293-317. D e n o d l - C o n t h i e rM 6 d i a t i on s,1 9 7 9 ) ,1 5 5 - 1 7 3 .
8. Urba nistic techn iques ,whic h c las s if yt hings s pat i a l l y ,c a n b e r e l a t e dt o t h e 24. Pas i pus. Essai sur le thenrinement quoti(lien en ntilieu urbain (Paris..
tradition of the "art of memory": see FrancesA. Yates, The Art o.f Memorl' Seuil. I979).
(l-ondo n: Rou tled ge a nd Kegan Paul, 1966) .The abi l i t y t o p r o d u c e a s p a t i a l 2 5 . l n h i s a n a l y s i so f c ul i n a r y p r a cti ce s,P. Bo u r d i e u r e g a r d sa s d e ci si ven o t
organizatio n of kno wledge ( wit h "plac es " as s ignedt o e a c h t y p e o f " f i g u r e " o r t h e i n g r e d i e n t sb u t t h e w a y i n w h i ch th e y a r e p r e p a r e d a n d u se d : "L e Se n s
"functio n") de ve lop s it s pr oc edur es on t he bas is of t h i s " a r t . " I t d e t e r m i n e s pratique," Acles tle la rechercheen .ycience.s sociales,February 1916,'l'7.
utopias and can be recognizedeven in Bentham's Panoplicttn. Such a form re- 26. J. Sunrpf, Introtlurlion d lo,st.r,listique Llufi'ang'ais(Paris: Larousse,l97l),
mains stable in spite of the diversity of its contents(past, luture, present)and its 87
projects(conservingor creating) relative to changesin the statusof knowledge. 27. On the "theory of the proper," seeJ. [)errida, ll4argesde lu phitosophie
220 N OTE STO P P .l OI_IO8 NOTES T'OPP. IOE-I20 221

(Paris: MinuiI, 1972),24"1 -324: Margins o./ Philosoph1,,trans. A. Bass(Chicago: 4 9 . S e e L e h l o n d e l o r M a y 4 , 1 9 7 '/.

Universityo f Ch ica go Pr es s ,1982) . 5 0 . S e en o t e 4 8 .
28. Augoyard, l'a.t d 7tas. 51. See the two analysesprovided by Freud in The Interpretatiotlof Dreants
29. T. Todorov, "Synecdoques,"Contnttnit'a!ions,No. l6 (1970),30. Seealso and Re.1'onilthe Pleasure Printiple, trans. J. Strachey (New York: I-iveright,
P. f'-ontanier, Les Figures du discours (Paris: Flammarion, 1968), 87-97; 1980);and also Sami-Ali, L'Espate irnaginaire(Paris: Gallinrard, 1974\,42-64.
J. Dubois et al., Rhitoritlue ginirale (Paris: Larousse,1970),102-112. 5 2 . J . L a c a n , " l - e S t a d e d u m i r o i r ,".ti 'r l r s ( Pa r i s: Se u i l , 1 9 6 6 ) ,9 3 - 1 0 0 ;"Th e
30. On this spa ce t hat pr ac t ic es or ganiz e int o "is l a n d s , " s e e P . B o u r d i e u , M i r r o r S t a g e , " i n E c r i t s :A Se l e t'ti <tntr, a n s. A. Sh e r i d a n ( N e w Yo r k: N o r r o n ,
Esquissed'une thiorie de la prarique (Gendve: Droz, 1972),215,etc.; "l-e Sens 1971)"
pratique ,"5 l -5 2. 53. S. ltrrcud,Inhibitions, S)'ntptontsand Anxiet.t'(New York: Norton, 1977).
31. See Ann e Bald as s ar i and M ic hel . ft luber t , Pr a t i q u e s r e l a t i r . t n t r c l l edse s 5 4 . V . K a n d i n s k y , D r r sp i r i tu e ltl a n s l 'a r ! ( Pa r i s: D e n o e l , 1 9 6 9 ) 5
, 7.
en-/bntsd I'espaceet institution (Paris: CRECELE-CORDES, 1976);and by the
sameauthors,"Ce qui se trame," Paralliles, No. I, June 1976.
32. Derrida, Murg,es,287,on metaphor. 9. "Sparial Stories"
33. Benveniste,Problinres, l, 86-87.
34. For Benveniste,"discourseis languageconsideredas assumedby the per- l . . l o h n L . y o n s ,S e n t n nl i c.r ( C a m b r i d g e :C a m b r i d g eU n i ve r si tyPr e ss,1 9 7 7 ) ,Il ,
son w ho is spe akingan d in t he c ondit ion of int er s ubjec t i v i t y (" i b i d . , 2 6 6 ) . 475-481,690-703.
35. Seefor example S. Freud, The lnlerpretolion of Drean?s,trans.J. Strachey 2. George A. Miller and Philip N. Johnson-Laird, L,anguogeurul Pert'epti,,trt
(New York: Basic Boo k s , 1955) ,Chapt er VI , $ l- 4, o n c o n d e n s a t i o na n d d i s - ( C a n i b r i d g e ,M a s s . : I l a r v a r d IJn i ys1 5 f1l y) r e ss,I9 7 6 ) .
placement,"processesof figuration" that are proper to "dreamwork." 3 . S e eb e l o w , p . l l 8 .
36. Ph. Dard, F. Desbons et al., La Ville, s.t'ntboliqueen sot{france (Paris. 4. Albert E. ScheUenand Norman Ashcraft, Iluntan Territories.IIow we
cEP, r975),200. Behavein Space-Tittre(EnglewoodCliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,I976).
37. See also, for example, the epigraph in Patrick Modiano, Plat'ede l'&oile 5 . E . A . S c h e g l o f f ," N o te s o n a C o n ve r sa ti o n a lPr a cti ce :Fo r m u l a ti n g Pl a ce ,"
(P aris:Ga llirna rd, 19 68) . ir-rStudies in ,Sociallnterattion, ed. David Sudnow (New York: The Free Press,
38. Jo achin i d u Ilel lay , Regr er s , 189. t972),pp. 7s-t l9.
39. For example, Sart'elles,the name of a great urbanistic ambition (near 6 . S e e , f o r e x a r n p l e ,Eco l e d e - l 'a r tu ,'l 'r u vu u .rsu r l e s s.t'sti n e stl e si g n e s,e d .
P aris ),h as ta ke n on a s y m bolic v alue f or t he inhabit an t so f t h e t o w n b y b e c o m - Y . M . l - o t m a n a n d B . A . Ou sp e n ski( l ) a r i s: I,U F; Br u xe l l e s:C o r n p l e xe ,1 9 7 6 ) ,
ing in th e e ye sof Fran c e as a whole t he ex am ple of a t o t a l f a i l u r e . 'l . h i se x t r e m e l 8 - 3 9 , 7 7 - 9 3 , e t c . ; l o u r i l - o tm a n , L o Str L t( tu r eL l u te xr e a r ti sti q L te
( Pa r i s:Ga l l i -
avatar pro vid esits citiz enswit h t he "pr es t ige"of an ex ce p t i o n a li d e n t i t y . m a r d , 1 9 7 3 ) , 3 0 9 , e t c ; . fi i r i [- o tm a n , 'l 'h e Str u t/u r e o / th e Ar r i .sti cTe xr , tr a n s.
40. Superstare:"to be above," as something in addition or superlluous. R . V r o o n ( A n n A r b o r : D e p a r tm e n t o f Sl a vi c L a n g u a g e sa n d [- i te r a tu r e s,- fh e
41. See F. Lugassy, ContributiLsn d wte ps.t'chosociologiede I'espaceurbain. Universityof Michigan, 1977);B. A. Llspenskii,A Poeritsof'L'onposirit n, trans.
L'Habitat et la /or|t (Paris: Rechercheurbaine, 1970). Y . Z a v a r i n a n d S . Wi t t i n g ( Be r ke l e y:U n i ver si ty o f C a l i fo r n i a Pr e ss,1 9 7 3 ) .
42. I)ard, Desbons et al., I-a Ville, s.t'nrboliqueen sttttffi'ant'e. 7. M. Merleau-Ponty, Phinontinologie de la pert,eption (Paris: Gallimard
43. Ibid .. t1 4.2 06 . l-el, 1976),324-344.
44. C. L6 vi-Stra us s , ?' r i, i/ est opiques ( l) ar is : Plon , 1 9 5 5 ) ,4 3 4 - 4 3 6 T r i s t e s 8 . C h a r l o t t e L , i n d ea n d Wi l l i a m l - a b o v, "Sp a ti a l N e tw o r ks a s a Si te l o r th e
lropiqu es,tran s..l. Rus s ell( New Yor k : Cr it er ion, 1962 ) . S t u d y o f l - a n g u a g ea n d 1- h o u g h t,"L a n g u a g e ,5 l ( 1 9 7 5 ) ,9 2 4 - 9 3 9 .On r h e r e l a -
45. One cou ld say the s am e about t he phot os br oug h t b a c k t r o n r t r i p s , s u b s t i - t i o n b e t w e e n p r a c t i c e ( l e /a i r e ) a n d sp a ce ,se e a l so C r o u p e 1 0 7 ( M . l l a m m a d
tuted for and turned into legendsabout the starting place. et al.), Slnriolique de I'espace(Paris: DGRS-f , 1973),28.
46. Terms whose relationships are not tllought but postulated as necessary 9. See, fgr example, Catherine Bidou and Francis Ho Tham Kouie, Le Vicu
can be said to be sy m bolic . O n t his delinit ion of s y m b o l i s m a s a c o g n i t i v e tles hubitorrt.sdan.s leur logentent d trat'er:;.soi.run!een!retien.tlibres (Paris.
mech an ismcha racter iz edby a "def ic it " oi t hink ing, s e e I ) a n S p e r b e r , L e S y t t t - C E R E I I E , 1 9 7 4 ) ;A l a i n M 6 d a m a n d Je a n - Fr a n g o i sAu g o ya r d , Si tu ttr i o n d .t'h a b i -
bolisnreen gineral (Paris: Ilcrmann, 1974);Rethinking S.t'rtrbolisnt, trans. A. L. tat et /a{otls tl'lrabiter(l'}aris:ESA, 1976);etc.
Morto n (Camb ridg e:C am br idge Univ er s it y Pr es s ,197 5 ) . 10. See George Il. -l'. Kirnble, Geogruph.t'in the Aliddle,4ge.r (l-ondon:
47. F. Ponge,lt Prorttenadeclansnos serres(l'}aris:Gallimard, 196'/). M e t h u e n , 1 9 3 8 ) ;e t c .
48. A worn an livin g in t he Cr oix - Rous s e quar t er in L y o n ( i n t e r v i e wb y P i e r r e ( 6 e n d ve :Ski r a , 1 9 7 0 ) ,p p . 4 7 - 5 l .
l l . I {o l a n d B a r t h e s ,L 'Em p i r e c/e ssi g r i e ,.r
Mayol): see L'lnventiort du quotidien, ll, IIabiter, tuisiner (t'aris: UGE l0/ 18, 12. The map is reproducedand analyzed by Pierre Janet,l,'Et'ollttiun (le la
I 980) . tttitttoire et la notion du temps (Paris: Chahine, 1928),284-281.1'he original is