What Is A Flâneur? - Why Writers Need To Wander Around
Вставка
- Опубліковано 7 вер 2020
- Are you a wanderer? How could the strange habit of wandering around help you with your writing?
NEWSLETTER:
www.litpublication.com/
Instagram:
r.c.waldun...
Support This Channel:
www.patreon.com/rcwaldun?fan_...
living is a writer's primary source.
You triggered my history nerd nerve.
"This vid is brought to you by insomnia." I don't want to buy that product, thanks.
Insomnia isn't a product. It's more like one of those free samples of cheese at a restaurant that the waiter keeps pummeling you with. Except here, the waiter is your brain.
Lmaoooo
Flaneuring, although surely helps in gathering inspiration and exploring the world around us, is also an excuse not to participate in it. Maybe that's why I love it so much. It allows me to be an observer - always watching, analyzing, looking for connections - but not have to be a part of what I see, a part of the unpredictable immediacy of what's safer to write about than live through.
I'm definitely a flâneur, always have been, I love to watch people and my surroundings. Luckily, people don't find me creepy because I'm just a smol innocent girl hahaha. I never knew there was a word for this kind of wandering and being fascinated by the world around you, thank you for making this video. ^.^ i haven't written in two months, I lost my faith a little after having made editing mistakes. I really want to get back into writing soon, but my fear of never being good enough to be published just keeps haunting me. I also have a lot of stress because of my studies, covid and exams. I just keep procrastinating 🙊
Have you written anything since?
@@sevdrakegavial if a lot of school essays and a uni application count... yes 😂 but honestly, not really. I am thinking a lot about it, though. I've even been writing some ideas down, but that's it unfortunately...
Literally me, there are so many things that always get in my way of writing and I end up procrastinating it's annoying but I'm glad I'm not the only one
@@Madeliefschram promise me you'll write something tomorrow
@@sevdrakegavial ohh that is a challenge...but one I will gladly accept. Thank you!
"2am in the morning" - I'm liking the double specifity
Omg wow I just realized 🤣 I do this too and get so much shit from my friends
Joseph Antonin Deservedly!
Loving the (almost) daily uploads. I thought this one was especially compelling. The idea of a Flâneur is one that I've long been obsessed with. Maybe I'll share my thoughts on it in line with my Hermitude series.
Care for a collab on being a flâneur?
@@RCWaldun Oh, I wouldn't even dream of it being any other way
Great video. Thanks for sharing. I have had several such experiences wandering around the streets of New York City. I know the feeling you are describing. It is wonderful.
Accidentally, found your channel and your pronunciation is soothes my soul❤️
I spent 7 months living in Melbourne a few years ago, and as a fellow fiction writer I can testify that it's a very inspiring city to wander in. In fact wandering was my main pastime while I was there. I do miss a good stroll along the banks of the Yarra.
I literally love your channel so much
this video was such an inspiration to me. i watched it last night, when i was about to go to bed, but after watching it i immediately went to my desk and opened a new word document (i haven't written a word for about a week before that). your channel is so great, and is now a new-found source of motivation for me.
what i mean to say, is thank you, and have a good day.
Keep on writing :) Glad my video helped getting the ball rolling!
I recently moved to Japan and I’ve been wandering every chance I get. I was lucky to be based about an hour and a half away from Tokyo. But even in between my work and Tokyo there’s so much city areas to see and explore. Even quiet beach towns that before I wouldn’t have spared a second glance. We’ve been locked down so I haven’t been able to do as much wandering. Through the wandering and reading a certain book I even decided I’d start writing. It was so random and something I had never considered but it seems to be sticking for me. Anyway I think the key is being alone. You even learn how to handle being alone for long periods of time. Even besides that though, it gives you a chance to look at yourself really differently. And you’ll probably change because of it.
Jeez I could go on and on and on
I say yes to this upload schedule. ♡
I recently did a project on how our obsession/preoccupation with the flaneur has historically led to the literary marginalisation of other urban experiences, namely of women who rarely had time to wander alone. Definitely worth thinking about. No shade @ the flaneûr tho, it’s an important part of literature for sure.
Also, hello fellow Melbournian :) I cant sleep either
This sounds like an MA Literature dissertation. Maybe that's why there was the assumption of domestic and romantic stories from women.
@@dorcasmalahlela2805 idk what MLA is, I just think it's important to note that there are other ways of living and experiencing the city. As I said tho, no hate to the channel, the main reason I love it is bc it invites exactly this sort of critical discussion
@@dorcasmalahlela2805 yup and also, the idea that domestic and romantic literature arent "real" stories is so problematic because they ARE real, valid experiences and shouldn't be dismissed
In my lit course we are currently discussing the relevancies of "the flâneur" in modernist literature and the impacts of the works of Helen Garner (Monkey Grip, if you are a Melbournian you know exactly which one it is) on the concept. Truly fascinating stuff. I do agree. The Western Canon marginalized certain valid experiences (especially for women's literature) and I think with the rise of alternative publishing methods nowadays, our generation can finally work toward a more well-rounded representation of the city life. Hope you're coping with Stage 4 well. -Fellow Melbournian
@@RCWaldun me too hahaha, I'm at Monash doing ATS1904. I loved Monkey Grip but we didn't study it, we studied her short novella the Children;s Bach. I'd highly recommend it! Hope you're coping with stage 4 too haha, hopefully it's over soon
I love these episodes... they are very spontaneous and they get my juices going
Truly a wonderful concept, I couldn't help but think of Tolstoy while listening to your late night meanderings about being a wandered lost in unexpected descriptions; I consider "War and Peace" to be a masterclass in descriptive nuance that captures the essence of everyday life.
This just got me so excited about your book
i feel most myself when i wander around places ive never been. i used to explore tiny tinker towns in appalachia, on the weekend. places with less than like 5,000 people that lived there and it was fascinating to see how towns are constructed with libraries, cemeteries, jails, town halls, restaurants etc. to see the building blocks of a community. it was my own way of doing urban studies. photography is also one of my hobbies so i would wander through the alleyways and the quieter corners, searching for a magical spot that had lonely or forgotten vibes. i lived off of a major interstate and i started exploring every exit and found some incredible adventures. in places that were not the big flashy cities. if i saw one of those brown signs for historical places i would go there. i went to a national dam and got to have an endearing conversation with some veterans, they gave me stickers, and i photographed some beautiful scenery of the mountains. these are memories that if i hadn't wandered, i wouldnt have. so when i travel i never have plans or objectives. i just follow where my curiousity leads me and it has made life all the more better. my friends dont understand my bravery, as they call it, but not everything is meant to be understood. the unknown is the mystery that keeps us alive.
Haha 😂 Brought to you by insomnia. I had that last night, it’s weird I rarely get insomnia. Anyways, it’s always a joy to watch someone talk about something they’re so passionate about. I’m passionate about seeking wisdom and mindful living. So I decided to craft my channel around those concepts. Plus it’s a fantastic way to express my creativity without having any inborn artistic talents 🌿
Some very good food for thought in this video!
I just came across this word in De Profundis. Thank you for the video!
Please make a video on building vocabulary, that will help in reading complex literature.
A couple tips, read more and don't be scared of complicated works as long as you're understanding like 60% of the words. When you come across vobaculary you don't know, write it down (and possibly write the whole sentence it appears in). Then read up the definition, and then write 8-10 short sentences using that word in each one. We learn best when things are placed in context, that's why just learning a word in a vacuum never really sticks. Place it into a context and you'll remember it much better. Another way is through repetition, just getting repeated exposure to it.
Read and read some more, and look up words you don't understand. E-readers are great for this because often you can just highlight the word and it will give you an option to look it up along with translations. You don't actually have to write it down or commit it to memory, just understand what it means and keep reading some more. The book itself gives you context for the word. Read a lot and the words will osmose into you. The kind of books you are reading will give you different kinds of vocabulary. If you read Jane Austen, you'll find yourself using words like "countenance" and "device" instead of "face" and "plan" and if you read teen contemporary fiction, you'll learn a lot of slang, so read books with the kind of vocabulary you want. TIP: ALWAYS TRY TO FIND THE SPOKEN PRONUNCIATION to avoid embarrassment when using the word aloud for the first time. I thought Proust was pronounced Prowst for too many years.
I like to listen to strangers talking in cafes and parks, i try to understand their personnality and story. Also just contmplatiing the world as it is is a really good inspiration.
I can relate to everything in this video. I've been told that creating imagery is my strongest quality when it comes to writing and I enjoy trying to convey this sort of experiences. It's a strange sense, kind of mystical. I've also had a similar feeling when reading "on the road" on a hill above a big road with trucks going up and down next to the fields. (:
I love the random videos please keep
I couldn't agree more! Observing people, their habits, their movements can be an infinite source of inspiration to a writer.
One thing i would say. It's important to have pen and paper at all times.
Thanks for the video. The Turkish author of the flaneur is Yusuf Atılgan with his book "Aylak Adam" (flaneur). He tells about a man who is flaneur in Istanbul, who is watching the tram and so on...
I first encountered this word in RD about french people. They're good at this.
I'm not big on podcasts but I like to listen to your videos while I cook. I like to keep my hands moving while I listen to something educational
Thanks for teaching me about the term flaneur. I recommend not posting when videos are ready but saving them to a more planned out schedule for the sake of both subscribers and the algorithm.
I hope the insomnia gets better :( In the meanwhile, thank you for the content! Insightful as always!!!
Okay. Love this
I Need an AudioBook of L'Academie narrated by You...
Thanks for breaking a little the rules for us. 🥰
Love this word! Flâneur.
Très bonnes vidéos ! J'adore les références pour les écrivains français
interesting! Could you please explore the process you experienced or are experiencing in getting a book published? You mentioned selectin an editor. At what stage (e.g. when, why, how....). selecting a publisher and other aspects.
THANKS, very inspirational!
There’s a poem by Delmore Schwartz that contains and captures that kind of sensation and it is one of my favorites:
From the graveyard by the sea
This hushed surface where the doves parade
Amid the pines vibrates, amid the graves;
Here the noon's justice unites all fires when
The sea aspires forever to begin again and again.
O what a gratification comes after long meditation
O satisfaction, after long meditation or ratiocination
Upon the calm of the gods
Upon the divine serenity, in luxurious contemplation!
What pure toil of perfect lightning enwombs, consumes,
Each various manifold jewel of imperceptible foam,
And how profound a peace appears to be begotten and
begun
When upon the abyss the sunlight seems to pause,
The pure effects of an eternal cause:
Time itself sparkles, to dream and to know are one...
Once in a Portuguese class during high school, we were discussing the poetry of Cesário Verde and our homework assignment for the following lesson was to write a poem in the same way he did, by wandering around town and observing people. I've always enjoyed the poetry of Cesário Verde, especially the imagery he created (and although this might be ~controversial~, I find his poetry superior to Fernando Pessoa's, but I digress). I think that the people here who are interested in this concept of the flâneur might enjoy Verde's poetry too!
May ancient philosophy techniques live and thrive through us.
We're studying the flâneur in class next week, and for a moment I thought this was next week and you were my lecturer. Is this ✨foreshadowing ✨?
I am ATS1904
D: ...R.C. Waldun is The Faculty
All that is gold does not glitter; not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither; deep roots are not reached by the frost. - J. R. R. TOLKIEN
Could you do a video on biblioclasm? I've seen it rise astonishingly in the past few years and to see massive, dominant sellers like Amazon ban books shocked me. I get the sense that the political mainstream is getting more fanatic and certain about their views, so they refuse to allow people to understand other views whatsoever. This in turn only makes the mainstream more intolerant as it leads to misconceptions and prejudices about dissenting views in society.
I'd presume you're against it, but awareness is good regardless.
Hey love your videos! I wanted to ask how you deal with personal doubts as a writer or your future as a writer. It's something i constantly struggle with myself. Writing is cathartic and it doesn't necessarily have to have an end goal, but at the same time i don't see myself doing anything else other than writing, and I'm scared that realistically i should have multiple back up plans (despite none of those back up plans interesting me at all).
I never clicked so fast.
What a voice.
It sounds like you and I had a similar night.
there’s a New Yorker article about the relationship writers have with walking! “Why Walking Helps Us Think” by Ferris Jabr
There’s a BBC piece-“The word that encapsulates ‘Frenchness’”-about the word _flâner,_ “a concept so French that the word has no English equivalent.”
I published my little books with minor publisher and didn't work with editor. That was my problem.
What is the name of that company that edits for free????
I learned about the concept of the flâneur in an Art History class. After asking the professor about it she said, "I think you are a flâneur". I must say I agree!
invisible cities and in praise of shadows be in this category?
Posting everytime, everyday
This term always makes me think of Greta Garbo. She wasn't a writer, but acting can be considered a creative art as well. There are many stories of how she would go on very long walks alone every day.
What would be the natural extension of this advice for somebody trying to evoke imagery of a world set far back in the past? One can't walk around in the streets of 1600's Europe for example...
Who are those free editors you mentioned?
Wordsworth wandered miles and miles in nature.
What uni do you go to? Just curious.
I think he said he goes to University of Melbourne
Good Morning.
I'm off for a stoat.
it seems we're synchronized rn
Collins Street! You're not a fellow Melbournian are you? Your accent tells me otherwise lol anyways love the video, so glad I discovered your account
I am a Melbournian. :)
R.C. Waldun I strangely would never have guessed! Sad there won’t be any flaneuring around here for a while though
@@RCWaldun Oh, gosh, as a US person, I would have guessed Canadian!
We think too much and feel to little
So do you live in Melbourne?
Coffee helps me sleep, may wanna give it a try?
1st comment love your videos man!!!!!
I swear this had a different thumbnail a few hours ago...
For some reason I always just had a feeling you were a New Yorker. Clearly completely wrong lol shows how good my intuition is.
One thing I do share with a New Yorker is that I do love the city I live in.
I want to do this but...I live in Watts.
Cross the wrong line with the wrong color t-shirt on and you’re fucked.
Just a little stark reality to consider.
To be honest, few minutes into your video and I'm feeling like unsubscribing every literary channel out there, your's is the one that overshadows every other content I've been watching all these years. Remarkable
LUNDi 1 JANVIER JE VAIS FAIRE UN LIVE
What Henry Miller were you reading?
Trophic of Cancer.
It mayde me think of Bard form "lol".
can your novels be found in the web
www.litpublication.com/fiction
@@RCWaldun thank you
Ey it's also 2 am here
🦉🖤
How old are you? Do you live alone? I'm 22 and unfortunately I now live with my parents because of the virus
Sono io un flaneur in Italia!
1:58
Nice video, but you shouldn't recommend people to leave home while we are in a pandemic situation, even if they city are not under a lockdown.
I can edit your book.
I am recent grad from one of the best schools in the U.S. and I won a full merit scholarship to get my masters in English Lit at one of the top Universities in the United Kingdom. I worked as a literary intern for an off-broadway theater in New York, and I've worked as an editor for a newspaper in the city where my college was located. I also edited the memoir of Nevena Bridgen (wife of Andrew Bridgen, an MP in UK Parliament).
I've been following you for a while, and I read and enjoyed the Learned Disguise--but after having read it, I was plagued by the thought that it *could* have been even stronger, if it had been edited, both line-edited--there were several grammatical errors throughout--and dev. edited--I think there are parts that could have been tightened and brought out.
I think the work that you're doing on here is exciting and your attitude toward life is admirable. I've sat here, watching your videos, and thought to myself: you know, I wish I could edit his stuff. So, now that I know you're looking for one, I've got to shoot my shot. You want an editor? I'm your guy.
Send me an email: rcwaldun@gmail.com
I'm a wonderer, and I try to create human experience through music.
a wonderer or a wanderer?
Dude I will PAY to listen to your podcast.
If you didn't know, I had him on an episode of my podcast on my channel. We covered Proust's Swann's Way and discussed, incidentally, some of the themes brought up in this video!
www.litpublication.com/blog/a-pleasant-conversation-with-eliza-from-altercation-magazine You're welcome :)
@@RCWaldun thankyou so freaking much
🤓
Maybe if you reduce your caffeine intake you wouldn’t have a lot of insomnia. May I suggest a Stephen king diet : Herbal tea and vitamin pills.
Ugh passive aggressive
Don't be a badour
You look like a bird in your thumbnail. Unrelated, I find your ideas poultry
I know it's a terrible thing to say, but American accents are so irritating. 'Intellectuals' in particular sound so pretentious it is impossible to take them seriously. I'm English, of course.