Panoramic Landscapes: Benjamin’s Flaneur and Schivelbusch’s Railway Traveler
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This essay explores how people developed subjectivity as modern culture began to emerge. Two concepts provide a foundation for my analysis: Walter Benjamin’s flaneur and Wolfgang Schivelbusch’s railway traveler. Benjamin emphasizes that the mid-19th century flaneur evokes an optimistic vision; people coped with increasing visual stimuli by embracing new opportunities for experiences of pleasure. In contrast, Schivelbusch notes the surprise and discomfort of those who traveled by railway. Compared with their experience of coach travel, the railway journey deprived passengers of control over speed and autonomy. In particular, they were troubled by the changing landscapes seen through train windows. Nevertheless, people learned to adapt to these rapidly changing forms of experience. Furthermore, the adjustment enabled them to create a new landscape; that is, travelers took an interest in “panoramic perception.” By generating what Schivelbusch (following Freud and Simmel) called a “stimulus shield,” individuals could enjoy mobile and fleeting landscapes. With the advances of modern culture, individuals such as flaneur and railway travelers experienced perceptional changes; at the same time, they became more comfortable with the visual stimuli. Overall, the changes experienced by modern Europe prompted people to develop “panoramic landscapes” when pre-modern landscapes could no longer satisfy their enhanced curiosity.
Abstract
This essay explores how people developed subjectivity as modern culture began to emerge. Two concepts provide a foundation for my analysis: Walter Benjamin’s flaneur and Wolfgang Schivelbusch’s railway traveler. Benjamin emphasizes that the mid-19th century flaneur evokes an optimistic vision; people coped with increasing visual stimuli by embracing new opportunities for experiences of pleasure. In contrast, Schivelbusch notes the surprise and discomfort of those who traveled by railway. Compared with their experience of coach travel, the railway journey deprived passengers of control over speed and autonomy. In particular, they were troubled by the changing landscapes seen through train windows. Nevertheless, people learned to adapt to these rapidly changing forms of experience. Furthermore, the adjustment enabled them to create a new landscape; that is, travelers took an interest in “panoramic perception.” By generating what Schivelbusch (following Freud and Simmel) called a “stimulus shield,” individuals could enjoy mobile and fleeting landscapes. With the advances of modern culture, individuals such as flaneur and railway travelers experienced perceptional changes; at the same time, they became more comfortable with the visual stimuli. Overall, the changes experienced by modern Europe prompted people to develop “panoramic landscapes” when pre-modern landscapes could no longer satisfy their enhanced curiosity.
참고문헌 (10)
- Benjamin, W., "The arcades project" (1999), Belknap Press
- Benjamin, W., "Illuminations", pp.155~200 (1968), Schocken Books
- Crary, J., "Techniques of the observer: On vision and modernity in the nineteenth century" (1990), MIT Press
- Friedberg, A., "Window shopping: Cinema and the postmodern. Berkeley" (1993), University of California Press
- Gleber, A., "The art of taking a walk: Flanerie, literature, and film in Weimar culture" (1999), Princeton University Press
- Kirby, L., "Parallel tracks: The railroad and silent cinema" (1997), Duke University Press
- Koepnick, L., "Framing attention: Windows on modern German culture" (2007), Johns Hopkins University Press
- Koepnick, L., "Walter Benjamin and the aesthetics of power" (1999), University of Nebraska Press
- Schivelbusch, W., "The railway journey" (1986), University of California Press
- Simmel, G., "Georg Simmel on individuality and social Forms", pp.324~339 (1971), University of Chicago Press