flâneuse, roaming woman. Noun, from French. Refers to wandering women, wandering observers, often seen in the city. This is the feminine form of the masculine noun "flâneur" and is also a fictitious definition.
At the same time, experts have ruled that the term "wandering woman" does not exist, that women cannot walk freely in the metropolis as men, and that most French dictionaries do not even have the word.
Why has the image of a male "wanderer" become an important concept in the history of literature, but the wandering woman is considered impossible? Why are women always more restricted in the public space? Why is it that women taking to the streets are considered conspicuous, but not mentioned in the history of roaming?
Recently, "Wandering Women: Wandering in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London" was published by the Commercial Press. Author Lauren Elgin roams the urban streets of New York, Paris, Tokyo, Venice, and London, feeling and recreating the creation and life of women in these big cities, such as writers George Sand, Virginia Woolf, Joan Rees, director Agnès Varda, photographer Sophie Carr, journalist Martha Gelhorn, etc.
Through the combing of literature, art and history, Elgin elaborated on the influence and significance of the urban environment on women, explored the relationship between women and the metropolis, affirmed the existence and role of women in history and cities, and tried to re-paint women into the picture of the city. Known as "Contemporary Susan Sontag". Many of her work has been published in numerous publications, including The New York Times Book Review, Frieze, times Literary Supplement, and she is also a contributing editor of the literary and artistic magazine White Review.
Elgin, a Native of New York, moved to Paris in 2004 and lives on the Left Bank for many years now on the Right Bank, where you'll often find her strolling around The Belle Ville.
"Walking is writing a map with your legs, it helps you stitch cities together, connecting the neighboring areas that were originally separated, like different planets that are related to each other, and the relationship is always constant but distant." 」 "I walk because it inexplicably resembles a kind of reading. You secretly know about these lives and conversations that have nothing to do with you, and you can overhear them. Elgin said.
Since beginning to look for wandering women, Elgin has begun to recognize them around the world. They may be of various identities, in various occupations, and they sometimes take buses or trains, but most of the time, they are always walking.
The book comes with 2 bookmarks with the theme of "Wandering Woman"
"I find that she uses the city as a stage for her performance, or as her hiding place; she pursues fame and profit in the city, or hides her name in it; she resists oppression in the city, liberates herself, or reaches out to help the oppressed; she declares her independence in the city, changes the world in the city, or is changed by the world."
The book was selected for the New York Times and The Guardian's Best Books of the Year list, and was the finalist for the Dai Amenstein Spielwer Essay Writing Award. The Guardian commented: "The narrative of this book is wonderful and appropriately spans several historical periods. In this elegant book, Elgin's wandering woman isn't just wandering aimlessly, as Elgin herself is: she uses her thinking to question, challenge, and recreate the life she observes. ”