{\lt..1'ri'p,.

ii'i'i j \t

THE PRACTICE OF' E,VERYDAY LIFE

Michel de Certeau

Tianslated by Steven Rendall

g\'-) pRESS oFcALTFoRNTA uNrvERsrry frq -n r.u il/ "

Berkele.t'LosAngeles Lotulott

I t _ l

rarrer ls arready at work.Thus it is exemprary that D6tienne andvernant shouldhavemadethemselves the storytlllers of this,,labyrinthine intelligence" ("inrelligen('e en elddales"), as Frangoise Frontisiso well terms practice of the story (l,histoire) is both its arr and its lr.J?:discursive At bottom, this is ail a very ord story. when he greword, Aristotre, who is not generaily consiaerea exactly a tightrope dancer, liked to rose himself i n t h e m o s tr a b y r i n t h i na en d s u b t l e o f d i s c o u r s eH s .e h a d t h e n arrivedat the age of nt?tis:"Th.,.more solitaryand isolated I become, t h e m o r eI c o n r et o l i k e s t o r i e s . , , r 5 He h;;;;p1^ined thereason admir_ ably:as in the orderFreud,it was a connoisseur,s admiration for thetact that composed h a r m o n i ea snd for its art of doing .. it by surprise :The is in a sense a loverof wisdom,for myth is composed of f]|:Jr: Tyth

Part III
SpatialPractices

ChapterVII

Walkirg in the City

E E I N GM a n h a t t a n f r o m t h e l l O t h f l o o r o f t h e w o r l d - l - r a d e cent er . Beneat h t he haz- est ir r ed up by t he winds, t he ur ban ' \-, i sl and,a sea in t he m iddle of t he sea,lif t s up t he skyscr aper s over w a l l S t r e e t ,s i n k s d o w n a t G r e e n w i c h ,t h e n r i s e s a g a i n t o t h e c r e s t so f M i d t o w n , q u i e t l yp a s s e s o v e r C e n t r a lP a r k a n d f i n a l l y u n d u l a t e s off into the distancebeyond Harlem. A wave of verticals. Its agitation is momentarilyar r est edby vision.The gigant icm ass is im m obilized bef or e the eyes. l t is t r ansf or m ed int o a t ext ur ology in which ext r em es coincide-extremes o f a m b i t i o na n d d e g r a d a t i o nb , r u t a ro p p o s i t i o n s of racesand s t yles,cont r ast sbet weenyest er day's buildings,alr eady t r ans_ f o r m e d i n t o t r a s h c a n s ,a n d t o d a y ' s u r b a n i r r u p t i o n s that block out its spaceu . n l i k e R o m e , N e w y o r k h a s n e v e rl e a r n e dt h e a r t o f g r o w i n go l d by pl ayi ng on all it s past s.I t s pr esentinvent sit self , f r om hour t o hour , i n the act of t hr owing away it s pr eviousaccom plishm eht s and challenging the future' A cit y com posedof par oxysm alplacesin m onum ent al r elief s. The spectatoc r a n r e a di n i t a u n i v e r s e that is constantly e x p l o d i n g .I n i t are inscribed the architectural figures of the coinc,iclario opltr,t.sirsrunr f o r m e r l y d r a w n i n m i n i a t u r e sa n d m y s t i c a rt e x t u r e s . o n t h i s s t a g eo f c o n c r e t es , t e e la n d g l a s s , cut out between t w o o c e a n s( t h e A t l a n t i c a n d the A meri c an) by a f r igid body of wat er , t he t allest let t er s in t he wor ld c o m p o s ea g i g a n t i c r h e t o r i c o f e x c e s si n b o t h e x p e n d i t u r e and pro_ duction.r 9l

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WALKING IN THE CITY

IvA LKING IN THE CITI,

93

g11 Vct.yt v.vo r w aI k er' T o w h a t e r o t i c s o f k n o w l e d g e d o e s t h e e c s t a s yo f r e a d i n gs u c h a c o s m o sb e l o n g ?H a v i n g t a k e n a v o l u p t u o u sp l e a s u r e i n i t , I w o n d e rw h a t i s t h e s o u r c eo f t h i s p l e a s u r e of "seeing t h e w h o l e , "o f l o o k i n g d o w n o n , totaliz-ing t h e m o s t i m m o d e r a t eo f h u m a n t e x t s . T o be lif t ed t o th e s u m m i t o f th e W o rl d Trade C enter i s to be l i fted o ut of t he c it y ' s g ra s p . On e ' s b o d y i s n o l o nger cl aspedby the streets th ; i iuil' and r e tu rn i t a c c o rd i n g ro a n a n onymous l arv; nor i s i t poss es s ed, whet her a s p l a y e r o r p l a y e d ,b y th e rumbl e of so many di fferences and by t he ner v o u s n e s s o f N e w Yo rk tra ffi c . W hen one goesup there,he l eav esbehind t h e m a s sth a t c a rri e so ff a n d mi xes up i n i tsel fany i denti ty o f aut hor s or s p e c ta to rs .A n l c a ru s fl y i n g above these w aters,he can i g n o r e t h e d e v i c e s o f D a e d a l u s i n m o b i l e a n d e n d l e s sl a b y r i n t h sf a r below. His ele v a ti o n tra n s fi g u re sh i m i n to a voyeur. l t puts hi m at a dis t anc e. I t t r a n s fo rm s th e b e w i tc h i n g w o rl d by w hi ch one w as " poss eis ed" int o a te x t th a t l i e s b e fo re o n e ' se y es.It al l ow s one to read i t, to b e a s o l a r E y e , l o o k i n g d o w n l i k e a g o d . T h e e x a l t a t i o no f a s c o p i ca n d g nos t ic dr iv e: th e fi c ti o n o [ k n o w l e d g e i s rel ated to thi s l ust to be a v i e w p o i n ta n d n o i n i n g m o r e . M us t one f in a l l y fa l l b a c k i n to th e d a rk space w here crow ds move b ac k and f or t h , c ro w d s th a t, th o u g h v i s i b l efrom on hi gh, are themsel ves u n a b l e t o s e ed o w n b e l o w ?A n l c a r i a nf a l l . O n t h e l t O t h f l o o r , a p o s t e r , s p h i n x - l i k e ,a d d r e s s e a s n e n i g m a t i cm e s s a g e to the pedestrian who is for a n ins t ant t r a n s fo rme d i n to a v i s i o n a rv : It' s hard to be dow ,n w hen .l,ou'reup. T he des ir et o s e eth e c i ty p re c e d e d th e meansof sati sfyi ng i t. Medi eval p a i n te rs re p re s e n te d or Renais s an c e that th e c i ty as seeni n a perspecti ve no ey e had y e t e n j o y e d .2T h i s fi c ti o n a l re ady made the medi evalspect at or int o a c e l e s ti a l e y e . l t c re a te d g o d s. H ave thi ngs changedsi nce pow er" ?l The total i zt ec hnic al pr oc e d u re sh a v e o rg a n i z -e d a n " a l l-seei ng ing ey e im agin e d b y th e p a i n te rs o f e a rl i e r ti mes l i veson i n our achi evem ent s . T he s a m e s c o p i c d ri v e h a u n ts u s e r s of archi tecturalproducti ons by m at er ializ i n g to d a y th e u to p i a th a t y e sterdayw as onl y pai nted.The 1370f oot high to w e r th a t s e rv e sa s a p ro w for Marfhattanconti nuesto c ons t r uc t t he fi c ti o n th a t c re a te sre a d e rs ,makes the compl exi ty of the c it y r eadable , text. i n d i m m o b i l i z -e s i ts o p a q u em obi l i ty i n a transparent I s t h e i m m e n s e t e x t u r o l o g y s p r e a d o u t b e f o r e o n e ' s e y e sa n y t h i n g m o r e t h a n a r e p r e s e n t a t i o na , n o p t i c a l a r t i f a c t ?l t i s t h e a n a l o g u eo f ' t . hef ac s im ile n ro rl ' -' c e d th ro rrg h a . p ro j e cti on that i s a w ay of keepi ng

a l o o f , b y t h e s p a c ep l a n n e ru r b a n i s t ,c i t y p l a n n e ro r c a r t o g r a p h e rT . he panorama-city ( t h a t i s , v i s u a l )s i m u l a c r u m ,i n s h o i t a is a "theoretical" p i c t u r e ,w h o s ec o n d i t i o n o f p o s s i b i l i t yi s a n o b l i v i o n a n d a m i s u n d e r t" " dl tr_9{_ pr ag! i9es.The voyeur - god cr eat edby t his f ict ion, who, like S chreber' s G od, knows only cadaver s. u m ust disent anglehim self f r om themurky intertwining dailybehaviors a n d m a k e h i m s e l fa l i e n t o t h e m . The ordinar y pr act it ioner sof t he cit y live "down below, " below t he threshol ds at which visibilit y begins.They walk- an elem ent ar yf or m of thi s experienceof t he cit y: t hey ar e walker s. ll/ ander sr niinnerwhose , b o d i e sf o l l o w t h e t h i c k sa n d t h i n s o f a n u r b a n " t e x t " t h e y w r i t e r v i t h o u t bei ng abl e t o r t udlt - f it ese pr act it ioner s t hat cannot m ake use of spaces b e s e e n ;t h e i r k n o w l e d g eo f t h e m i s a s b l i n d a s t h a t o f l o v e r s i n e a c h o t h e r ' sa r m s . T h e p a t h s t h a t c o r r e s p o n di n t h i s i n t e r t w i n i n g .u n r e c o g ni zed poem s in which each body is an elem entsignedby m any ot her s. el ud_g l egi b _ilit y. I t is as t hough t he pr act icesor ganizinga bust ling cit y w ere charact er ized by t heir blindness. 'The net wor ks of t hese m oving, r1te11gct ing wr it ings com posea m anif old st or y t hat has neit her aut hor nor specta t or , shapedout of f r agm ent sof t r aject or ies and alt er at ionsof spaces: i n r elat ion t o r epr esent at ions. it r em ains daily and indef init ely other. pr oducedby t he eye.t he ever yday E scapi n g t he im aginar yt ot alizat ions hai a iertalnTtrari-fe-ni:si itrat does not surface,or whose surface is only i ts upper l im it , out lining it selfagainstt he visible.Wit hin t his ensem ble, I s h a l l t r y t o l o c a t et h e p r a c t i c e s or t h a t a r e f o r e i g nt o t h e " g e o m e t r i c a l " " g e o g r a p h i c a ls " p a c e o f v i s u a l , p a n o p t i c ,o r t h e o r e t i c a l constructions. Thesepracticbs-6fspacerefer to a specificform of operariorrs("ways of (un "anthropological." p o e t i ca n d operating"), t o " a n o t h e rs p a t i a l i t y " u mythi c ex per ience of space) and , t o an opaqueand blind nr obilit y char acteri sti co f t he bust ling, cit y,A nr igr at ional,or m et aphor ical.cit y t hus sl i psi nto the clear t ext of t he plannedand r eadable cit y.

l. Front the conceptof the citt' to urban pra(tircs The W orld Tr ade Cent eris only t he m ost m onum ent alf igur e of West er n urban de velopm ent . The at opiq- ut opia of opt ical knowledge has long had the a m bit ion of sur m ount ing and ar t iculat ing t he cont r adict ions ari si ngfrom ur ban agglom er at ion, lt is a quest ionof m anaginga gr owt h of human agglom er at ionor accum ulat ion."The cit y is a huge m onast e r ! , . "s a i d E r a s m u s P . e r s p e c t i vv ei s i o na n d p r o s p e c t i v e v i s i o nc o n s t i t u t e

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W A LK IN G IN TH E C ITY

W A LK ING I N THE CI TY

95

s ur f ac e t hat c a n b e d e a l t w i th . T h e y i n augurate(i n the si xteenthcentury?) the transformation of the urban .fact into the concepr of a city. Long bef or e th e c o n c e p t i ts e l f g i v e sri s e to a parti cul arfi gure of hi story. it assumes that this fact can be dealt with as a unity determined by an ur balls t r c - r y 1 i o . L i n k i n g th e c i ty to the concept i i evei rnakts-them i d e n t i c a l ,b u t i t p l a y s o n t h e i r p r o g r e s s i v e symbiosis: to plan a city is bot h t o t hink th e v e ry p l u ra l i ty o f th e real and to make that w ay of t lr ink ing t he p l u ra l e .ffe c ti v e i;t i s to k n ow how to arti cul ate i t and be ableto do it.

to be reint r oduced int o adm inist r at ive cir cuit s and t r ansf or m s even defi ci encies ( in healt h,secur it y,et c. ) int o ways of m aking t he net wor ks of order denser .But in r ealit y, it r epeat edly pr oducesef f ect scont r ar y r o those at which it aim s: t he pr of it syst emgener at es a loss which, in r he mul ti pl e f or m s of wr et chedness and pover t y out side t he syst emand of w aste i nside it , const ant lyt ur ns pr oduct ion int o "expendit ur e. " M or eover, the r at ionalizat ionof t he cit y leadst o it s r nyt hif icat ionin st r at egic di scourses, which ar e calculat ions basedon t he hypot hesis or t he necessi ty of i ts dest r uct ionin or der t o ar r ive at a f inal decision. e Finally, t he f u n c t i o n a l i so t r g a n i z a t i o nb , y privileging progress ( i . e . .t i m e ) , c a u s e s the condi ti o n of it s own possibilit y- space it self - t o be f or got t en. space thus bec om es t he blind spot in a scient if icand polit ical t echnology.This i s the w ay in which t he Concept - cit yf unct ions;a place of t r ansf or m at i o n s a n d a p p r o p r i a t i o n st,h e o b j e c to f v a r i o u s k i n d s o f i n t e r f e r e n c b eut al so a su bjectt hat is const ant lyenr ichedby new at t r ibut es,it is sim ultaneously, t he m achiner yand t he her o of m oder nit y. Today , what evert he avat ar sof t his concept m ay have been,we have to acknowledge that if in discourse the city serves a s a t o t a l i z i n ga n d al most myt hical landm ar k f or socioeconom icand polit ical st r at egies, urban l i fe incr easingly per m it s t he r e- em er gence of t he elem entt hat t he urbani sticpr oject excluded.The language of power is in it self "ur banizi ng," but t he cit y is lef t pr ey t o cont r adict or y m ovem ent st hat count er bal anceand com bine t hem selves out side t he r each of panopt ic power . The ci ty becom est he dom inant t hem e in polit ical legends, but it is no l onger a f ield of pr ogr am m ed and r egulat ed oper at ions. Beneat h t he di scours es t hat ideologize t he cit y, t he r usesand com binat ionsof power s that hav e no r eadableident it y pr olif er at e:wit hout point s wher e one can take hol d of t hem , wit hout r at ional t r anspar ency. t hey ar e im possible to administer.

A n oper at ion a l c o n c e p t? T he " c it y " f o u n d e d b y u to p i a n a n d u rb a ni sti c di scourseti s defi ned by t he pos s ibili tyo f a th re e fo l d o p e ra ti o n : l. T he pro d u c ti o n o f i ts o w n s p a c e (un espacepropre): rati onal or ganiz at ion m u s t th u s re p re s s a l l th e physi cal , mental and pol i ti cal p o l l u t i o n st h a t w o u l d c o m p r o m i s e it; 2 . t h e s u b s t i t u t i o n o r a i i b w h e n , o i o f a s y n c h r o n i cs y s t e m , for the indet er m ina b l e a n d s tu b b o rn re s i s ta n c e s offered by tradi ti ons;uni vocal s c ient if ics t ra te g i e s , ma d e p o s s i b l eb y th e fl atteni ngout of al l the data i n a plane pr oje c ti o n , mu s t re p l a c eth e ta c ti cs of usersw ho take advantage of " oppor t un i ti e s " a n d w h o , th ro u g h these trap-events,thesel apsesi n v is ibilit y , r ep ro d u c eth e o p a c i ti e so f h i s tory everyw here; 3. f inally, th e c re a ti o n o f a u n i v e rs a land anonymoussubi eclw hi ch i s t he c it y it s e l f: i t g ra d u a l l y b e c o me sp o s si bl eto attri bute to i t, as to i ts polit ic al m o d e l , H o b b e s ' S ta te ,a l l th e fu ncti onsand predi cates that w ere pr ev ious ly s c a tte re d a n d a s s i g n e d to many di fferent real subj ects,r individuals. " T h e c i t y , " l i k e a p r o p e rn a m e ,t h u s , g r o u p s ,a s s o c i a t i o n so ' pr ov ides a w a y o f c o n c e i v i n g a n d c o n s tructi ngspaceon the basi s of a f init e num b e r o f s ta b l e ,i s o l a ta b l e , properti es. a n d i nterconnected A dm inis tra ti o n i s c o m b i n e d w i th a p rocess of el i mi nati oni n thi s pl ace or ganiz ed b y " s p e c u l a ti v e " a n d c l a s s i fi catoryoperati ons.tOn the one hand, t her e i s a d i ffe re n ti a ti o na n d re d i stri buti onof the parts and funct ions of t he c i ty , a s a re s u l t o f i n v e rs i o n s, di spl acements, accumul ati ons, et c . ; on t he o th e r th e re i s a re j e c ti o no f everythi ngthat i s not capabl eof being dealt w i th i n th i s w a y a n d s o c o n sti tutes the " w aste products"of a f unc t ionali s t a d mi n i s tra ti o n (a b n o rma l ity,devi ance, i l l ness, death, etc.). T o G s ; r e,-p ro g i 6 s s a tto w s a n i n c re a s i n gnumber of thesew astepi oau.tt

The return of practices Tlg Qgl.gpj:gilY is decaying. Does that mean that the illness afflicting both the r at ionalit y t t r ai f ounded it and it s pr of essionals af f lict s t he urban populat ionsas well? Per hapscit ies ar e det er ior at ingalong wit h the procedur es t hat or ganizedt hem . But we m ust be car ef ul her e. T[ e mi ni ster sof knowledge have always assum edt hat t he whole univer se

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W'A LKING IN THE CITY

WALKING IN THE CITI'

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was t hr eat en e d b y th e v e ry c h a n g e sth a t affectedthei r i deol ogi es and t h e i r p o s i t i o n s . T h e y t r a n s m u t e t h e m i s f o r t u n e o f t h e i r t h e o r i e si n t o t heor ies of m i s fo rtu n e . Wh e n th e y tra n s form thei r bew i l dermenti nto "catastrophes," w h e n . t h e y s e e k t o e n c l o s et h e p e o p l ei n t h e " p a n i c " o f t heir dis c our s e sa , re th e y o n c e m o re n e c e ssari l ri y ght? Rat her t ha n re m a i n i n g w i th i n th e fi e l d o f a di scourse that uphol ds i ts pr iv ilege by in v e rti n g i ts c o n te n t (s p e a k i n gof catastrophe and no l onger of progress), o n e c a n t r y a n o t h e r p a t h : o n e c a n t r y a n o t h e rp a t h : o n e c an analy z e th e mi c ro b e -l i k e , s i n g u l a r a nd pl ural practi cesw hi ch an u r b a n i s t i c s y s t e m w a s s u p p o s e dt o a d m i n i s t e ro r s u p p r e s sb , ut which hav e out liv ed i ts d e c a y ; o n e c a n fo l l o w the sw armi ng acti vi ty of these pr oc edur es th a t, fa r fro m b e i n g re g u l a ted or el i mi nated by panopti c adm inis t r at io n ,h a v e re i n fo rc e dth e m s e l v es i n a prol i ferati ngi l l egi ti macy, dev eloped an d i n s i n u a te d th e m s e l v e s i n to the netw orks of survei l l ance, and combined in accordwith unreadable b u t s t a b l et a c t i c st o t h e p o i n t of c ons t it ut i n g e v e ry d a y re g u l a ti o n s a n d surrepti ti ouscreati vi ti es that ar e m er ely c o n c e a l e db y th e fra n ti c m e c hani sms and di scourses of the obs er v at ion a lo rg a n i z a ti o n . but al so as the T his pat hw a y c o u l d b e i n s c ri b e d a s a consequence, r ec ipr oc al, o f .F o u c a u l t' sa n a l y s i so f th e s tructuresof pow er. H . moved it in t he dir e c ti o n o f m e c h a n i s msa n d techni cal procedures," mi nor ins t r um ent a l i ti e s "c a p a b l e , m e re l y b y th e i r organi zati onof " detai l s,"of t r a n s f o r m i n g a h u m a n m u l t i p l i c i t y i n t o a " d i s c i p l i n a r y "s o c i e t ya n d o f managing, differentiating, classifying, and hierarchizing all deviances c o n c e r n i n ga p p r e n t i c e s h i ph , e a l t h ,j u s t i c e ,t h e a r m y , o r w o r k . t o" T h e s e I of t en m inis c u l e ru s e s o f d i s c i p l i n e ," th e se " mi nor but fl aw l ess"mechaand nis m s , dr aw th e i r e ffi c a c y fro m a re l a ti o nshi pbetw eenprocedures in order to makean "operator"outof it. t h e s p a c et h a t t h e y r e d i s t r i b u t e B ut what s p a ti a l p ra t' ti c e s c o rre s p o n d , i n the area w here di sci pl i nei s In th a t produce a di sci pl i naryspace? m anipulat e d , to th e s ea p p a ra tu s e s the t he pr es entc o n j u n c tu re ,w h i c h i s ma rk e d by a contradi cti onbetw een c ollec t iv e m o d e o f a d m i n i s tra ti o n a n d a n i ndi vi dual mode of reappropr iat ion, t h i s q u e s ti o n i s n o l e s s i mp o rtant, i f one admi ts that spati al pr ac t ic es in fa c t s e c re tl ys tru c tu re th e d etermi ni ngcondi ti ons of soci al lif e. I woul d l i k e to fo l l o w o u t a fe w of these mul ti form. resi stance. t r ic k y and s tu b b o rn p ro c e d u re sth a t e l ude di sci pl i new i thout bei ng outs ide t he f ie l d i n w h i c h i t i s e x e rc i s e d ,and w hi ch shoul d l ead us to a fami l i ari ty o f l i v e d s p ace,of the di squi eti ng i t heor y o[ ev e ry d a y p ra c ti c e s , ' of the citv.

2. The chorus of idle.footsteps "The goddess can be r ecognized by her st ep" V i r g i l ,A e n e i d , l , 4 0 5 Thei r stor y beginson gr ound level,wit h f oot st eps.They ar e m yr iad, but each unit has do not com posea ser ies. They cannot be count ed because a qual i tat ivechar act er :a st yle of t act ile appr ehensionand kinest het ic appropriat ion. Their swar m ing m ass is an innum er able collect ion of They si ngul arit ies. Their int er t wined pat hs give t heir shape t o spaces. w eaveplacest oget her .I n t hat r espect .pedest r ianm ovem ent sf or m one' whoseexist ence in f act m akesup t he cit y. "" Tl't . y of these"r eal syst em s ai i not t oiaiized; it is r at her t hey t hat spat ialize.They ar e no m or e sketch speakers insertedwithin a containerthan those Chinesecharacters out on their handswit h t heir f inget t ips. It is truethat the operations o f w a l k i n g o n c a n b e t r a c e do n c i t y m a p s i n such a way as t o t r anscr ibet heir pat hs ( her ewell- t r odden,t her e ver y ( going t his way and not t hat ) . But t heset hick fai nt) an d t heir t r aject or ies of what has'passed or thi n cur vesonly'r ef er ,like wor ds, t o t he absence by. S urveysof r out es m iss what was: t he act it self of passingby. The o p e r a t i o no f w a l k i n g , w a n d e r i n g ,o r " w i n d o w s h o p p i n g . "t h a t i s . t h e acti vi ty of passer s- by, is t r ansf or m edint o point s t hat dr aw a t ot alizing line on t he m ap. They allow us t o gr asponly a r elic set in and rever sible the now hen of a sur f aceof pr oject ion. lt self visible, it has t he ef f ect of maki ng invisible t he oper at ion t hat m ade it possible.These f ixat ions f or f or get t ing,The t r ace lef t behind is subst it ut ed consti tut epr ocedur es for the practice.[t exhibits the (voracious)property that the geographical h a s o f b e i n ga b l e t o t r a n s f o r ma c t i o n i n t o l e g i b i l i t y ,b u t i n d o i n g system so i t causes a way of beingin t he wor ld t o be f or got t en.

Pedestrian speechacts A comp ar isonwit h t he speechact will allow us t o go f ur t her r 2and not alone, looking l i mi t our selves t o t he cr it ique of gr aphic r epr esent at ions The act of beyond. from the shor esof legibilit y t owar d an inaccessible w al ki ng is t o t he ur ban syst emwhat t he speechact is t o languageor t o At t he m ost elem ent ar ylevel, it has a f f iiple the sta t em ent s ut t er ed. 13 "enunciative" function: it is a process of appropriation of the topographi c al syst em on t he par t of t he pedest r ian ( ust as t he speaker

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appr opr iat e s a n d ta k e s o n th e l a n g u a g e ) ;i t i s a spati al acti ng-outof the place fiust as the speechact is an acousticiCiinfonTitT iarigu@); and it im plies r ela ti o n s a m o n g d i ffe re n ti a te d posi ti ons,that i s, among pragm at ic " c ont ra c ts " i n th e fo rm o f m o v e ments(ust as verbal enunci ati on is an " alloc u ti o n ," " p o s i ts a n o th e r o p p o si te" the speakerand puts cont r ac t s bet we e n i n te rl o c u to rs i n to a c ti o n ) .roIt thus seemspossi bl e to gi ve pr elim inar y a d e fi n i ti o n o f w a l k i n g a s a spaceof enunci ati on. W e c ould m o re o v e r e x te n d th i s p ro b l emati cto the rel ati onsbetw een the act of writing and the written text, and even transpose it to the r elit ions hip s b e tw e e n th e " h a n d ' ; l th e to uch and the tal e of the pai ntbrush lte er la ge.steA;"i;";raul) and the finished painting (forms, colors, etc.). At first isolated in the area-of vGibil-comiirtiriibation,the s peec hac t t u rn s o u t to fi n d o n l y o n e o f i ts appl i cati ons there,and i ts l i nguis t ic m oda l i ty i s m e re l y th e fi rs t d e te rm i nati onof a much more general distinction between the forms used in a system and itre wayJ of using t his s y s t em (i .e ., ru l e s ), th a t i s , b e tw e en tw o " di fferent w orl ds," si nce " t he s am e t h i n g s " a re c o n s i d e re d fro m two opposi teformal vi ew poi nts. Cons idere d fro m th i s a n g l e , th e p e d estri an speechact has three charac t er is t ic sw h i c h d i s ti n g u i s h i t a t th e o u tset from the spati alE ystem: the pr es ent ,t he d i s c re te ,th e " p h a ti c ." F ir s t , if i t i s tru e th a t a s p a ti a l o rd e r organi zes an ensembl e of possi b i l i t i e s ( e . g . ,b y a p l a c e i n w h i c h o n e c a n m o v e )a n d i n t e r d i c t i o n s (e.g., by a wall that prevents one from going further), then the wii[er actualiz es s om e o f th e s e p o s s i b i l i ti e s .l n th a t w ay, he makesthem exi st as w el l as em er ge. Bu t h e a l s o mo v e s th e m a b out and he i nvents others,si nce t he c r os s in g ,d ri fti n g a w a y , o r i mp ro v i sati onof w al ki ng pri vi l ege, transf or m or ab a n d o n s p a ti a l e l e me n ts .T h u s C harl i e C hapl i n mri tl i pi i esthe pos s ibilit ie so f h i s c a n e : h e d o e s o th e r th i ngs w i th the samethi ng and he goes bey on d th e l i m i ts th a t th e d e te rmi nants of the obj ect set on i ts ut iliz at ion. In th e s a me w a y , th e l v a fk e l 1g1s[orms each spati alsi gni fi er int o s om et h i n g e l s e .An d i f o n th e o n e hand he actual i zes onl y a few of t he pos s ib i l i ti e sfi x e d b y th e c o n s tru c tedorder (he goes onl y here and not t her e), o n th e o th e r h e i n c re a s e sthe number of possi bi l i ti es(for ex am ple, b y c re a ti n g s h o rtc u ts a n d d etours) and prohi bi ti ons (for exam ple, he fo rb i d s h i ms e l f to ta k e p a th s general l yconsi dered accessi bl e " The user of a ci ty pi cks I or euen ob l i g a to ry ). H e th u s m a k e sa sel ecti on. i out certain fragments of the statement in order to actualize them in isecret."l5 , .. i. w He t hus c re a te sa d i s c re te n e s s , h e ther by maki ng choi cesamong the ..

spatial "language" or by displacingthem through the use signifiers9f .t_h.. he makes of t hem . He condem nscer t ain placest o iner t ia or disappear *it t 't ot her s spat ial"t ur ns of phr ase"t hat ar e "r ar e, " ance and com poses " acci dent al"or illegit im at e. But t hat alr eady leads int o a r het or ic of w al ki ng. -Ii i in r elat iont o Th- e f r am ewor k of enunciat ion,t he walker const it ut es. hi s posi t ion,bot h a near and a f ar , a her e and a t her e. To t he f act t hat the adver bsher e and iher e ar e t he indicat or s of t he locut ionar y seat in verbal com m unicat ion'u- a coincidencet hat r einf or cest he par allelism betw eenlinguist ic and pedest r ianenunciat ion- we m ust add t hat t his im plied by walking and indicat iveof l ocati on ( her e- t her e) ( necessar ily a p r e s e n ta p p r o p r i a t i o no f s p a c e b y a n " l " ) a l s o h a s t h e f u n c t i o n o f a i n t r o d u c i n ga n o t h e r i n r e l a t i o n t o t h i s " 1 " a n d o f t h u s e s t a b l i s h i n g par t icuplaces. st r ess I would of ar t iculat ion conj unct ive and disjunct ive l arl y the "phat ic- "aspect ,by which I m ean t he f unct ion, isolat ed by Mal i nowski and Jakobson,of t er m s t hat init iat e, m aint ain, or int er r upt c o n t a c t ,s u c h a s " h e l l o , " " w e l l , w e l l . " e t c . l t W a l k i n g . w h i c h a l t e r n a t e l y foi tow s a pat h and has f ollower s, cr eat esa m obile or ganicit y in t he . nd if it is true that the phatic e f p h a t i c t o y s o iA e n v i r o n m e n ta , s e q u e n co functi on, whichli an ef f or t t o ensur ecom m unicat ion.is alr eadychar acteri sti c of t he languageof t alking bir ds, just as it const it ut est he "f ir st verbal f unct ion acquir ed by childr en, " it is not sur pr ising t hat it also g a m b o l s ,g o e s o n , a l l f o u r s , d a n c e s .a n d w a l k s a b o u t , w i t h a l i g h t o r o f " h e l l o s " i n a n e c h o i n gl a b y r i n t h ,a n t e r i o ro r h e a v ys t e p ,l i k e a s e r i e s parallel touip{o.rmative speech. enunciat ionwhich a plane r epr esent at iot t The moiialit iesof pedest r ian o n a m a p b r i n g s o u t c o u l d b e a n a l y z e d .T h e y i n c l u d e t h e k i n d s o f rel ati on shipt his enunciat ionent er t ainswit h par t icular pat hs ( or "st at ements") by accor ding t hem a t r ut h value ( "alet hic" m odalit ies of t he , n epistemo, r t h e c o n t i n g e n t )a th necessary , e i m p o s s i b l et,h e ' p o s s i b l eo l ogi cal value ( "epist em ic"m odalit ies of t he cer t ain, t he excluded. t he or f inally an et hical or legal value ( "defl ausi ble, or t he quest ionable) onti c" m odalit iesof t he obligat or y,t he f or bidden, t he per m it t ed,or t he r espect s. t r ies out , t r ansgr esses, opti on al) . 't Walking af f ir m s, suspect s, part in this a sing the modalities All ii etc., the trajdctciiies "speaks." pr opor t ions. E hri i us ,changing f r om st ep t o st ep, st epping in t hr ough which var y accor ding t o t he t im e, t he pat h seque nces, . , nd int ensit ies taken and t he walker . Theseenunciat or yoper at ionsar e of an unlim it ed t o t heir gr aphict r ail. cannot be r educed di vers it y. They t her ef or e

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Walking rhetorics F T he walk ing o f p a s s e rs -b yo ffe rs a s e ri e sof turns (tours) and detours t hat c an be c o m p a re d to " tu rn s o f p h ra s e" or " styl i sti cfi gures."There i s a r het or ic of w a l k i n g . T h e a rt o f " tu rn i n g " phrases fi nds an equi val ent in an ar t of c om p o s i n g a p a th (to u rn e r u n p arcours). Li ke ordi nary l anguage, ' et his a rt i m p l i e s a n d c o mb i n e ss ty l esand uses._t4-p.ci fi es " a linguis t ic s t r u c tu re th a t ma n i fe s tso n th e symbol i c l evel . . . an i ndi vi dual' s f undam e n ta l w a y o f b e i n g i n th e w orl d" ;zoi t connotesa si ngul ar. Us e def ines t h e s o c i a l p h e n o me n o n th ro ugh w hi ch a system of comfiiinication manifests itself in actual fact; it refers to a norm. Style and us e bot h hav e to d o w i th a " w a y o f o p erati ng" (of speaki ng,w al ki ng, et c . ) , but s t yl e i n v o l v e s a p e c u l i a r p ro c e s si ng of the symbol i c,w hi l e use r ef er s t o elem e n tso f a c o d e . T h e y i n te rs e ctto form a styl e of use,a w ay o f b e i n ga n d a w a y o f o p e r a t i n g . 2 r I n int r odu c i n g th e n o ti o n o f a " re s i d i ng rhetori c" (" rhetori quehabi t ant e" \ , t he fe rti l e p a th w a y o p e n e du p b y n. Meci ai n22 and systemati zed by S . O s t r ow e trk y " a n d J .-F . Au g o y a rd ,2'w e assume that the " tropes" c at aloguedb y rh e to ri c fu rn i s h mo d e l s a n d hypotheses for the anal ysi s of way s of appr o p ri a ti n g p l a c e s .T w o p o s tu l ates seemto me to underl i ethe v alidit y of t h i s a p p l i c a ti o n : l ) i t i s a s s u m edthat practi ces of spaceal so correspond to manipulations of the basic elementsof a constructedorder; 2) it is as s u m e d th a t th e y a re , l i k e th e tropes i n rhetori c, devi ati ons r elat iv e t o a s o rt o f " l i te ra l m e a n i n g " d e fi ned by the urbani sti csystem. T her e would th u s b e a h o m o l o g y b e tw e e nverbal fi guresand the fi gures of walk ing ( a s ty l i z e d s e l e c ti o na m o n g th e l atter i s al readyfound i n the f i g u r e so f d a n c i n g )i n s o f a r a s b o t h c o n s i s ti n " t r e a t m e n t s " or operations " a m b i g u o u s b e a r i n go n i s o l a t a b l e units,25 and in d i s p o s i t i o n st"h a t d i v e r t a n d d i s p l a c em e a n i n g i n t h e d i r e c t i o n o f e q u i v o c a l n e s s i 2 n 6t h e w a y a t r em ulous ima g e c o n fu s e s a n d mu l ti p l i es the photographedobj ect. In t hes e t wo mo d e s , th e a n a l o g y c a n b e accepted.I w oul d add that the geom et r ic a ls p a c eo f u rb a n i s tsa n d a rc h i tectsseems to have the statusof i n order t he " pr oper me a n i n g " c o n s tru c te db y g rammari ans and l i ngui sts to have a normal and normative level to which they can compare the "proper" meandrifting of "figurative" languagb. In reality, this faceless

The long p_oem o f w a l k i n g m a n i p u l a t e ss p a t i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s , no m a t t e r h o w p a n o p t i ct h e y m a y b e : i t i s n e i t h e r f o r e i g n t o t h e m ( i t c a n t a k e p l a c eo n l y w i t h i n t h e m ) n o r i n c o n f o r m i t y w i t h t h e m ( i t d o e s n o t recei ve i ts idint it y f r om t hem ) . I t cr eat es wit hin shadowsand am biguit ies t h e m . I t i n s e r t si t s m u l t i t u d i n o u s r e f e r e n c e s and citationsinto them (soci alm odels,cult ur al m or es,per sonalf act or s) .Wit hin t hem it is it self the effec t of successive t hat const ant-d.8aiei.' lyalt er it and occasions encount er s and make it the other's blazon: in other rvords. it is like ^ , carryi ng som et hingsur pr ising,t r ansver se or at t r act ive com par ed wit h the usual choice.Thesediver seaspect spr ovide t he basis of a r het or ic. They can even be said to define it. as it appear sin B y ana lyzing t his "m oder n ar t of ever ydayexpr ession" account sof spat ial pr act ices, t * J. - F. Augoyar d discer nsin it t r vo espeand asyndet on.The pr eci al l y fundam ent alst ylist icf igur es:synecdoche domi nan ceof t heset wo f igur es seem st o m e t o indicat e.in r elat ion t o poles,a f or m al st r uct ur eof t hesepr act ices.S. t 'ner 'tw o com plem ent ar y " u s i n g a w o r d i n a s e n s ew h i c h i s p a r t o f a n o t h e r d o c h e c o n s i s t si n it nam esa par t inst eadof t he meani ngof t he sam e wor d. "2eI n essence. w hol e w h ich includesit . Thus "sail" is t aken f or "ship" in t he expr ession " a fl bet of f if t y sails";in t he sam e way, a br ick shelt eror a hill is t aken is t he suppr esfor the par k in t he nar r at ion of a t r aject or y.As. t 'ndet on e i t h e rw i t h i n a and adverbs, s i o n o f l i n k i n g w o r d s s u c ha s c o n j u n c t i o n s and I n t he sam eway, in walking it select s or bet ween sent ences. sentence it skips over links and whole par t s t hat it fragmen t st he spacet r aver sed; o r s k i p sl i k e leaps, o m i t s . F r o m t h i s p o i n t o f v i e w , e v e r yw a l k c o n s t a n t l y of conjunct ive/ oci. pr act ices t he ellipsis a chi l d, hopping on one f oot . I t exIn realit y, t hese t wo pedest r ianf igur es ar e r elat ed. Synecdoche pands a spat ialelem entin or der t o m ake it play t he r ole of a "m or e" ( a total i ty) and t ake it s place( t he bicycleor t he pieceof f ur nit ur e in a st or e w i ndow st ands f or a whole st r eet or neighbor hood) . Asyndet on, by el i si on,cr eat es a "less, "opensgaps in t he spat ialcont inuum , and r et ains only selectedparts of it that amount almost to relics. Synecdocherepl acest ot alit iesby f r agm ent s( a / essin t he place of a nt or e) ; asyndet on di sconnect st hem by elim inat ing t he conjunct ive or t he consecut ive (nothi n g in place of som et hing) .Synecdoche m akes m or e dense:it am pl i fi es the det ail and m iniat ur izes t he whole. Asyndet on cut s out : it undoescont inuit y and under cut sit s plausibilit y.A spacet r eat edin t his w ay and shaped by pr act icesis t r ansf or m ed int o enlar ged singular iThr ough t hese swellings,shr inkings, and ti es and separ at eislands. s0

ing (c'e"propre" sans.figure\ cannotbe found in currentuse,whether by a usethat is verbal or pedestrian, it is merelythe fiction produced itself that distinguishes useof sciefice the meialinguistic also particular, b y t h a t v e r yd i s t i n c t i o n . 2 T

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WALKING IN THE CITI'

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f r agm ent at io n s , th a t i s , th ro u g h th e s e rhetori cal operati ons a spati al phr as ingof a n a n a l o g i c a (c l omposed o f j u xtaposedci tati onslanai i ti pti cal ( m ade of ga p s , i i p s e s , a n d a l l u s i o n s ) type i s created.For the techni l logic al s y s t e m o f a c o h e re n t a n d to ta l i zi ng space that i s " l i nked" and s im ult aneou s , th e fi g u re s o f p e d e s tri a nrhetori c substi tutetraj ectori es' t hat hav e a m y th i c a l s tru c tu re , a t l e a s t i f one understands by ' l myth" a dis c our s er el a ti v e to th e p l a c e /n o w h e re(o r ori gi n) of concrete exi stence, a s t o r yj e r r y - b u i l t o u t o f e l e m e n t s t a k e n f r o m c o m m o n s a y i n g sa , n allus iv e and f r ag me n ta ry s to ry w h o s e g a p s m esh w i th the soci alpracti ces it symbolizes. Flg-greq are the acts of this stylistic metamorphosisof space.Or rather, as Rilk e put s i t, th e y a re mo v i n g " tre e so f gestures." They move eventhe r igid and c o n tri v e d te rri to ri e s o f th e m edi co-pedagogi cal i nsti tute i n whic h r et ard e d c h i l d re n fi n d a p l a c e to pl ay and dance thei r " spati al s t or ies . " 3rTh e s e " tre e s o f g e s tu re s " a re i n movementeveryw here. Thei r f or es t s walk th ro u g h th e s tre e ts .T h e y transform the scene,but they c annot be f i x e d i n a c e rta i n p l a c e b y i m a ges.l f i n spi te of that an i l l usyel l ow i sht r at ion wer e re q u i re d , w e c o u l d me n ti o n the fl eeti ng i mages, gr een and m e ta l l i c b l u e c a l l i g ra p h i e st hat how l w i thout rai si ng thei r v oic es and e mb l a z -o nth e ms e l v e so n th e subterraneanpassages of the c it y , " em br o i d e ri e s " c o mp o s e d o f l e tte r s and numbers, perfectgestures of violencepainted with a pistol, Shivas made of written characters, danc ing gr a p h i c s w h o s e fl e e ti n g a p p a ri ti ons are accompani edby the r um ble of s u b w a y tra i n s : N e w Yo rk g ra ffi ti . If it is true that .fore.st'iof-lrsrures ^r. manifest in the streets,their m ov em ent c a n n o t b e c a p tu re d i n a p i c tu re, nor can the meani ngof thei r m ov em ent s b e c i rc u m s c ri b e di n a te x t. Thei r rhetori caltranspl antati on c ar r ies awa y a n d d i s p l a c e sth e a n a l y ti cal ,coherentproper meani ngsof produced by ur banis m ; i t c o n s ti tu te s a " w a n d e ri n g of the semanti c" r2 others, and exaggerate m as s es t hat m a k e s o m e p a rts o f th e c i ty d i sappear , dis t or t ing it, fra g m e n ti n gi t, a n d d i v e rti ng i t from i ts i mmobi l e order.

appropri at einvent or yf or t he r het or ic of t he f ir st t r vo r egist er s of expr essi on i s equallyvalid f or t he t hir d. lf t her e is a par allelism ,it is not only because en unciat ionis dom inant in t heset hr ee ar eas,but also because ( ver balized, i ts di scursive dr eam ed.or walked) developm ent is or ganized as a rel ation bet weent he place f r om which it pr oceeds( an or igin) and ( a way of "going by") . the now her eit pr oduces processes F r o m t h i s p o i n t o f v i e w , a f t e r h a v i n gc o m p a r e dp e d e s t r i a n to linguistic f o r m a t i o n s ,w e c a n b r i n g t h e m b a c k d o w n i n t h e d i r e c t i o n of onei ri c f igur at ion, or at least discoveron t hat ot her side what , in a spati al pra ct ice,is insepar able f r om t he dr eam ed place. To walk is t o of l a c k a p l a c e .I t i s t h e i n d e f i n i t ep r o c e s s o f b e i n g a b s e n ta n d i n s e a r c h a n d c o n c e n t r a tes a p r o p e r . - T h em o v i n g a b o u t t h a t t h e c i t y m u l t i p l i e s of lacking a place- an makei the cit y it selfan im m ensesocialexper ience t iny depor t at ions experi enoe t hat is, - io b. , ur . , br oken up int o count less (di spl acem ent and s t he f or r elat ionshipsand walks) , com pensat ed by intersections o f t h e s e e x o d u s e st h a t i n t e r t w i n e a n d c r e a t e a n u r b a n f a b r i c , a n d p l a c e du n d e r t h e s i g n o f w h a t o u g h t t o b e , u l t i m a t e l y .t h e p l a c eb u t i s o n l y a n a m e ,t h e C i t y . T h e i d e n t i t yf u r n i s h e d b y t h i s p l a c ei s a l l t h e m o r e s y m b o l i c( n a m e d )b e c a u s ei.n s p i t e o f t h e i n e q u a l i t yo f i t s , a c i t i z e n sp ' ositions a n d p r o f i t s .t h e r e i s o n l y a p u l l u l a t i o no f p a s s e r - b y t r a f f i c ,a n e t w o r k o f r e s i d e n c ets by pedestrian e m p o r a r i l ya p p r o p r i a t e d shuffl i ng am ong pr et enses of t he pr oper . a univer se of r ent ed spaces hauntedb y a nowher eor by dr eam ed- ofplaces.

N amesan d sym bols e n t e r t a i nw i t h t h a t s p a t i a lp r a c t i c e s A n i n d i c a t i o no f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p that al sg lr g is f ur nished pr eciselyby t heir m anipulat ions of and wit h " proper" nam es.The r elat ionships bet weent he dir ect ion of a walk ( / e sensc!1 lno1l situate meaning of words (_le Ia ntarche) and sensde ,the one ext r over t( t o walk is t o tw Ji orti of uppur ent lycont r ar y m ovem ent s. go outsi d e) ,t he ot her int r over t ( a m obilit y under t he st abilit y of t he si gni fi er). Walking is in f act det er m ined by sem ant ic t r opism s; it is attracted and r epelled by nom inat ions wlt ose m eaning is not clear , w hereast he cit y, f or it s par t , is t r ansf or m ed f or m any people int o a " desert"in which t he m eaningless, indeedt he t er r if ying,no longer t akes the form of shadowsbut becom es,as in G enet 'splays, an im placable which is cr eat ed l i ght that pr oducest his ur ban t ext wit hout obscur it ies, by a technocr at icpower ever ywher eand which put s t he cit y- dweller under cont r ol ( under t he cont r ol of what ? No one knows) : "The cit y

r)-r

3 . M y t h s : w h a t " m o k e sl h i n g sg o " el l i pses, etc.) characteri ze T he f igur es o f th e s em o v e me n ts(s y n e cdoches, both a "symbolic order of the unconscious"and "certain typical processes of subjectivity manifested in discourse."rr The similarity between"dis, , c our s e" s oa n d d re a m s l s h a s to d o w i th thei i use-oi ttt. si mL " i tyl i sti c ---*..* proi.au.es"; it therefore includes pedestrian praitices as well. The "an, cient .uiiiog of i;;;;;;' has furnished an that fiom Freud to Benveniste

t04

VVA I.KING IN THE CITY'

W A LK IN G I N THE CI TI '

r05

k eeps us und e r i ts g a z e , w h i c h o n e c a n n ot bear w i thout feel i ng di zzy," s a y sa r e s i d e n to f R o u e n . ' oI n t h e s p a c e s b r u t a l l yl i t b y a n a l i e nr e a s o n , p r o p e r n a m e sc a r v e o u t p o c k e t so f h i d d e n a n d f a m i l i a r m e a n i n g sT . hey " m a G T e r i s e " ; i n o i h e r w o r d s , t h e y a r e t h e i m p e t u so f m o v e m e n t sl,i k e v oc at ions an d c a l l s th a t tu rn o r d i v e rt a n i ti neraryby gi vi ng i t a meani ng' ( or a dir ec t io n ) (.re n .r) th a t w a s p re v i o u s l yunforeseen. Thesenamescreate
a

Li nki ng act s and f oot st eps,opening m eaningsand dir ect ions,t hese l of i w o r d s o p e r a t ei n t h e n a m e o f a n e m p t y i n g - o u ta n d w e a r i n g - a w a y b e o c c u p i ed. that can t h e i r p r i m a r y r o l e . T h e y b e c o m el i b e r a t e ds p a c e s rarefaction, g i v e st h e m . b y m e a r r s of a semantic A rich indetermination top of the g e o g r a p h y o n p o e t i c s e c o n d . a the functionof articulating . hey insinuate geography o f t h e l i t e r a l ,f o r b i d d e no r p e r m i t t e dm e a n i n g T o t h e r r o u t e s i n t o t h e f u n c t i o n a l i s ta n d h i s t o r i c a lo r d e r o f m o v e t n e n t . W al ki ng follows t hem : "l f ill t his gr eat enr pt y space wit h a beaut if ul name."38 P e o p l ea r e p u t i n m o t i o n b y t h e r e r n a i n i n gr e l i c s o f m e a n - i i ng, and som et im esby t heir wast e pr oduct s, t he inver t ed r em ainder si T h i n g st h a t a m o u n t t o n o t h i n g .o r a l m o s t n o t h i n g , ; o f g r e a ta m b i t i o n s . ' n preciselt yo t h a t h a v ec e a s e d n :a n l e s a n d o r i e n tw a l k e r s ' s t e p s sym-bolize be " proper . " functions k e r n e l st h r e e d i s t i n c t( b u t c o n n e c t e d ) I n t h e s es y m b o l i z i n g of the relat ionsbet weenspat ial and signif ying pr act icesar e indicat ed and t he pr ir r r it ile. t he nr er t t or ahle, (and perhaps f ounded) :t he heliet 'ahle. spatial possible or credible) (or nrakes what "authorizes" They designate in them)from a in them (or is recalled a p p r o p r i a t i o n sw . hat is repeated them and coni n i s s t r u c t u r e d w h a t a n d s i l e n ta n d w i t h d r a w n m e m o r y . or igin. Theset hr ee sym bolic ti nuesto b e signedby an in- f ant ile( in- lan. r ) o r g a n i z et h e t o p o i o f a d i s c o u r s eo n / o f t h e c i t y . ( ! q g q mechanisms dr eam ) in a way t hat also eludesur banist icsyst em at icit y. * ..nory, "nd Tfri!-firn atrei.f-6e recognizedin the functions of proper names: they t he placet hat t hey clot he wit h a r vor d ( by make habit ableor believable p o w e r , t h e y a c q t r i r ct h a t o f t h e i r classifying of emptyingthemselves (thedead t hantonrs else); t h e y r e c a l lo r s u g g e s p " p e r m i t t i n g "s o m e t h i n g t) h a t s t i l l n r o v ea b o u t . c o n c e a l e d t o h a v ed i s a p p e a r e d w h o a ' r es u p p o s e d .h a t i s . b y i r r t p o s i n g s n d i n b o d i e si n m o t i o n ; a n d . b y n a m i r r g t i n g e s t u r ea ( a a r r d b y a l t e r i n gf u n c s t o r y ) t h e o t h e r p r o c e e d i n g f r o m an injunction t h e y c r e a t ei n t h e i t . f r o n r t i o n a l i s t i d e n t i t y b y d e t a c h i n gt h e m s e l v e s out p l a c ei t s e t ft h a t e r o s i o no r n o w h e r et h a t t h e l a w o f t h e o t h e r c a r v e s within it.

a nowher e in p l a c e s ;th e y c h a n g eth e m i n to passages. A f r i e n d w h o l i v e s i n t h e c i t y o f S d v r e sd r i f t s , w h e n h e i s i n P a r i s , t owar d t he ru e d e s Sa i n ts -P i re .r a n d th e rue de S ?r' res, eventhough he i s g o i n g t o s e eh i s m o t h e r i n a n o t h e rp a r t o f t o w n : t h e s en a m e s articulate a s e n t e n c et h a t h i s s t e p s c o m p o s e w i t h o u t h i s k n o w i n g i t . N u m b e r e d s t r e e t sa n d s t r e e t n u m b e r s( l l 2 t h S t . , o r 9 r u e S a i n t - C h a r l e so )r i e n t t h e magneticfield of trajectories j u s t a s t h e y c a n h a u n t d r e a m s .A n o t h e r friend unconsciously r e p r e s s ets he streets w h i c h h a v e n a m e sa n d , b y t h i s f a c t , t r a n s m i t h e r - o r d e r s o r i d e n t i t i e si n t h e s a m e w a y a s s u m m o n s e s a n d c l a s s i f i c a t i o n .s sh ; e g o e s i n s t e a da l o n g p a t h s t h a t h a v e n o n a m e o r s i g n a t u r e .B u t h e r w a l k i n g i s t h u s s t i l l c o n t r o l l e dn e g a t i v e l y by proper names. W h a t i s i t t h e n t h a t t h e y s p e l l o u t ? D i s p o s e di n c o n s t e l l a t i o nts hat hierarchiz-e a n d s e m a n t i c a l l yo r d e r t h e s u r f a c eo f t h e c i t y , o p e r a t i n g c h r o n o l o g i c a l a r r a n g e m e n t sa n d h i s t o r i c a lj u s t i f i c a t i o n s , t h e s ew o r d s ( B or r dgc . t I , l o tz a ri .r, Bo u g a i n t,i l l e ... ) s l ow l y l ose, l i ke w orn coi ns, the o n th 9 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 y 3! 9 _er y 11 y g d nit ior r . S r r in /.1Pi ' - re :;,C o re n ti n C e l to n , R eclS quare... thesenamesmake \ t hem s elv esa v a i l a b l e to th e d i v e rs eme a ni ngsgi ven them by passerr-by: ' , t hey det ac h th e ms e l v e s fro m th e p l a c e sth ey w ere supposed to defi neand \ i s e r t ' ea s l m a g l n a r y m e e t i n g - p o i n t s on itineraries which, as metaphors, i t h e y d e t e r m i n e f o r r e a s o n st h a t a r e f o r e i g n t o t h e i r o r i g i n ' a v l aluebrjt I r noy be r ec o g n i z -e d o r n o t b y p a s s e rs - by. A strange toponymy that i s det ac hed f ro m a c tu a l p l a c e s a n d fl i e s hi gh over the ci ty l i ke a foggy g e o g r a p h y o f " m e a n i n g s " h e l d i n s u s p e n s i o nd , irectingthe physical deambulations below: Pla<'e de l'Etoile, Conc'orde, Poissonniire. . . T hes e c ons te l l a ti o n so f n a me s p ro v i d e traffi c patterns:they are stars air - . c t i; g i fi n e ra ri e s . " T h e Pl a c e d e l a C oncorde does not exi st," Malaparte said, "it is an idea."lt lt is much more than an "idea." A whole s er i e s o f c o m p a ri s o n s w o u l d b e necessary to account for the I m agic al po w e rs p ro p e r n a m e se n j o y . T h e y seemto be carri edas embl ems : by the travellers t h e y d i r e c t a n d s i m u l t a n e o u s ld ye c o r a t e .

C redi bl et hingsand m em or ablet hings:habit abilit y that makespeople B y a p a r a d o x t h a t i s o n l y a p p a r e n t ,t h e d i s c o u r s e bel i eveis t he one t hat t akes away what it ur ges t hem t o believein. or a void or descr ibing Far f r om expr essing what it pr om ises. neverdeliver s

r06

WALKING IN THE CITY

WALKING IN THE CITY

t07

a lac k , it c r e a te ss u c h . It m a k e sro o m fo r a voi d. In that w ay, i t opens up c lear ings ;it " a l l o w s " a c e rta i n p ra y w i th i n a systemof defi ned pl aces. It " aut hor iz e s " th e p ro d u c ti o n o f a n a re a of free pl ay (spi el raum\ on a c hec k er boa rd th a t a n a l y z e s a n d c l a s s i fi esi denti ti es. It makes pl aces h a b i t a b l e .O n t h e s eg r o u n d s ,I c a l l s u c h d i s c o u r s e a " l o c a l a u t h o r i t v . "I t is a crack in the system that saturates places witt--srgnificitlon anO indeed s o re d u c e s th e m to th i s s i g n i f i cati on that i t i s " i mpossi bl eto b r e a t h e i n t h e m . " I t i s a s y m p t o m a t i ct e n d e n c yo f f u n c t i o n a l i s t o t a l i t ar ianis m (i n c l u d i n g i ts p ro g ra m m i n g o f gamesand cel ebrati ons) that i t s eek s pr eci s e l y to e l i mi n a te th e s e l o c a l authori ti es,becausethey comp r o m i s e t h e u n i v o c i t y o f t h e s y s t e m .T o t a l i t a r i a n i s ma t t a c k s w h a t i t quit e c or r e c tl y c a l l s .s u p e rs ti ti o n s s:u p e rerogatory semanti coverl ays that ins er t t hem s e l v e s" o v e r a n d a b o v e " a n d " i n excess," oo and annex to a pas t or po e ti c re a l m a p a rt o f th e l a nd the promoters of techni cal rationalities and financial profitabilities had reserved for themselves. ult im at e l y , s i n c e p ro p e r n a m e s a re al ready ..l ocal authori ti es" or " s uper s t it i o n s ,"th e y a re re p l a c e db y n u mbers:on the tel ephone, one no longer dial s Op e ra , b u t 0 7 3 . T h e s a me i s true of the stori esand l egends t hat haunt u rb a n s p a c e l i k e s u p e rfl u o u sor addi ti onal i nhabi tants. They ar e t he obj e c 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. B u t t h e i r e x t e r m i n a t i o n ( l i k e t h e e x t e r m i n a t i o no f t r e e s ,f o r e s t s ,a n d h i d d e n p l a c e si n w h i c h s u c h l e g e n d s live)ar m a k e st h e c i t y a . . s u s p e n d e d s y m b o l i c o r d e r . " o t T h e h a b i t a b l ec i t y i s t h e r e b y a n n u l l e d .T h u s , a s a wom an f r o m R o u e n p u t i t, n o , h e re " th ere i sn' t any pl acespeci al , except f or m y own h o m e , th a t' s a l l . . . . T h e re i sn' t anythi ng."N othi ng.' speci al " : n o t h i n g t h a t i s m a r k e d , o p e n e du p b y a m e m o r y o r a s t o r y , s i g n e db y s om et hing o r s o m e o n e e l s e .On l y th e cave of the home remai nsbel i eva b l e , s t i l l o p e n f o r a c e r t a i nt i m e t o l e g e n d ss , till full of shadowsE . xcept f or t hat , a c c o rd i n g to a n o th e r c i ty -d w el l er, there are onl y ..pl aces in whic h one c a n n o l o n g e r b e l i e v ei n a n y thi ng." o' I t i s t h r o u g h t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t h e y o f f e r t o s t o r eu p r i c h s i l e n c e s and w o r d l e s ss t o r i e s ,o r r a t h e r t h r o u g h t h e i r c a p a c i t yt o c r e a t ec e l l a r sa n d gar r et s ev e ry w h e re ,th a t l o c a l l e g e n d s(l egenda: w hat \s to be read, but a l s o w h a t t a n b e r e a d ) p e r m i t e x i t s ,w a y s o f g o i n g o u t a n d _ g o m i nb ga c k in, and t h u s h a b i ta b l e s p a c e s .C e rta i nl y w al ki ng about and travel i ng s ubs t it ut e fo r e x i ts , fo r g o i n g a w a y a n d comi ng back, w hi ch w ere form er ly m ad e a v a i l a b l e b y a b o d y o f l e gendsthat pl acesnow adaysl ack.

.somethlng different. What does travel ulti9El__up*spag9-tolt.djg "an explor at ion of t he mateTtpr oduce if it is not , by a sor t ol r ever sal, placesof m y m em or y, " t he r et ur n t o near by exot icism by way deserted of a det our t hr ough dist ant places,and t he "discover y" of r elics and "f r agm ent sof m usic "f leet ingvisionsof t he Fr enchcount r yside. " l egends: i n s h o r t , s o m e t h i n gl i k e a n " u p r o o t i n g i n o n e ' s o r i g i n s and poetry,"oo (H ei degger ) ? What t his walking exile pr oducesis pr eciselyt he body of l egendst hat is cur r ent ly lacking in one's or vn vicinit y: it is a f ict ion, l i,k e d r e a m so r p e d e s t r i a n w h i c h m o r e o v e rh a st h e d o u b l e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c As a and condensat ions. ot rhetori c ,of being t he ef f ect of displacem ent s pr act ices corol l ary, one can m easur et he im por t anceof t hesesignif ying (to tel l o neself t hat invent spaces. legends) as pr act ices . From t his point of view, t heir cont ent s r em ain r evelat or y,and st ill more so is t he pr inciple t hat or ganizest hem . St or ies about placesar e wit h t he wor ld; sdebr is.Even if t he makesh if tt hings.They dr e com posed l i terary f or m and t he act ant ial schem a'of"super st it ions"t ot t . r pond t o stabl emodels whosest t uct ur esand com binat ionshave of t en been anal yzedov er t he past t hir t y year s,t he m at er ials( all t he r het or icaldet ailsof their "manifestation") are furnished by the leftovers from nominations, et c. , t hat is, by f r agm ent s of taxonom ies,her oic or com ic pr edicat es, and even cont r ar y elesem ant icplaces.These het er ogeneous scatter ed f or m of t he st or y. Things ext r a and ot her ments fill t he hom ogeneous int o t he (detai l sand excesses inser t t hem selves com ing f r om elsewher e) f r am ewor k, t he im posedor der . O ne t hus has t he ver y r elat ionaccepted ship betweenspatial practicesand the constructedorder. The surface of dr if t s, and punchedand t or n open by ellipses, thi s order is ever ywher e tfidui-ota.t. leaksof meaning:it is a The ver bal r elics of which t he st or y is com posed,being t ied t o lost stori es a nd opaqueact s,ar e juxt aposedin a collagewher e t heir r elat ions They are not t hought , and f or t his r easont hey f or m a sym bolic whole. ou are articulated by lacunae.Within the structured space of the text, they possibilit ies thus produceant i- t ext s,ef f ect sof dissim ulat ionand escape, "d 6 nt assif 's, like cellar sand bushes: of moving int o ot her landscapes, t hat t hey open up, pl uri e ls. "ot Because of t he pr ocessof dissem inat ion injunct ions, ar e always stori es dif f er f r om . lum or s in t hat t he lat t er i ni ti ator sand r esult sof a levellingof space,cr eat or sof com m on m ovements t hat r einf or cean or der by adding an act ivit y of m aking people . bel i ev et hings t o t hat of m aking people do t hings. St or ies diver sif y, rumor s t ot alize. I f t her e is st ill a cer t ain oscillat ion bet ween t hem , it

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s eem s t hat to d a y th e re i s ra th e r a s tra t i fi cati on:stori es are becomi ng privateand sink into the secluded p l a c e si n n e i g h b o r h o o d s or f, amilies, i n d i v i d u a l s ,w h i l e t h e r u m o r s p r o p a g a t e d b y t h e m e d i ac o v e re v e r y t h i n g and, gat her e d u n d e r th e fi g u re o f th e C i ty, the masterw oi ci oTan anony- . mous law, the substitute f o r a l l p r o p e r n a m e s ,t h e y w i p e o u t o r c o m b a t any superstitions guiltyof still resisting the figure T h e d i s p e r s i o no f s t o r i e sp o i n t s t o t h e d i s p e r s i o n as of the memorable well. And in fact memory is a sort of anti-museumi :t i s n o t l o c a l i z a b l e . F r agm ent so f i t c o me o u t i n l e g e n d s Ob . j e ctsand w ords ai i i j fi avehol l ow plac es in wh i c h a p a s t s l e e p s ,a s i n th e e v erydayacts of w al ki ng, eati ng, g o i n g t o b e d , i n w h i c h a n c i e n tr e v o l u t i o n s s l u m b e r .A m e m o r yi s o n l y a P r inc e Charm i n g w h o s ta y s j u s t l o n g e nough to aw aken the S l eepi ng Bcauties of our wordless stories. "_!!_t.f-u, there used to be a bakery." " T h a t ' . r w h e r e o l d l a d y D u p u i s u s e d t o l i v e . " I t i s s t r i k i n g h e r et h a t t h e W p l a c e sp e o p l el i v e i n a r e l i k e t h e p r e s e n c eo sf d i v e r s e absences . hat can be s eendes i g n a te s w h a t i s n o l o n g e r th ere: " you see,here there used to be . . . , " bu t i t c a n n o l o n g e r b e s e e n . Demonstrati ves i ndi catethe i nv i s i b l e i d e n t i t i e so f t h e v i s i b l e :i t i s t h e v e r y d e f i n i t i o no f a p l a c e ,i n f a c t , t hat it is c o mp o s e d b y th e s e s e ri e so f d ispl acements and effectsamong t he f r agm e n te d s tra ta th a t fo rm i t a n d that i t pl ays on these movi ng I ay er s . " M e m o r i e s t i e u s t o t h a t p l a c e .. . . I t ' s p e r s o n a l ,n o t i n t e r e s t i n g to any one els e , b u t a fte r a l l th a t' s w h a t gi ves a nei ghborhoodi ts charac t er . " 48T h e re i s n o p l a c e th a t i s n o t h a unted by many di fferentspi ri ts hidden there in silences , p i r i t s o n e c a n " i n v o k e " o r n o t . H a u n t e dp l a c e s ar e t he only o n e s p e o p l e c a n l i v e i n -a n d thi s i nvertsthe schemaof the that once P a n o p t i < ' o nB . u t l i k e t h e g o t h i cs c u l p t u r e s o f k i n g sa n d q u e e n s ador ned No tre -D a me a n d h a v e b e e n buri ed for tw o centuri esi n the these bas em ent o f ^ b u i l d i n g i n th e ru e d e l a C hauss6e-d' A nti n,a' " s pir it s , " t h e ms e l v e s b ro k e n i n to p i e c e si n l i ke manner,do not speak any m or e t han th e y .re e T . h i s i s a s o rt o f k n ow l edgethat remai nssi l ent.Onl y ' Just betw eenyou hint s of wh a t i s k n o w n b u t u n re v e a l e d are passed on and me." paststhat others P lac esa re fra g me n ta ry a n d i n w a rd -t urni nghi stori es, ur i n" t ullo w e d to re a d . a c c u mu l a te dti m es that can be unfol dedbut l i ke s t or ies hel d i n re s e rv e ,re ma i n i n g i n a n eni gmati cstate,symbol i zati ons ' :l feel good hi i e" ' ro the enc y s t ed in th e p a i n o r p l e a s u reo f th e body. i n th e l a n guagei t appearsi n l i ke a fl eeti ng well- being u n d e r-e x p re s s e d g l i m m e r i s a s p a t i a lp r a c t i c e .

C hi l dhoodand m et aphor s of places M e t a p h o rc o n s i s t i sn g i v i n gt h e t h i n g a n a n r e t h a t b e l o n g st o s o m e t h i n g else. Aristotle. poerics 1457b

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tS tha! which can be drearned about a place. In this Tlgg:gggbl_. pl ace that is a palim psest , subject ivit yis alr eady linked t o t he absence that structures i t u t - . * i r i . n c e a n d m a k e si t " b e t h e r e , "L ) a s e i r tB . ut aswe h a v es e e n , this being-t!9re a c t s o n l y i n s p a t i a lp r a c t i c e st.h a t i s , i n x , a . l , . t of nrov ing inr o t or nr t 'iiir ig'df f ir ent ( nt anibr escle passet . l'aule) . I t d m t i i t - u i t i m a t e l y b e s e e na s t h e r e p e t i t i o n ,i n d i v e r s er n e t a p h o r s o .f a decisive a n d o r i g i n a r ye x p e r i e n c e t, h a t o f t h e c h i l d ' sd i f f e r e n t i a t i o n from t h e m o t h A ' S - b b d i rl.t i s t h r o u g h t h a t e x p e r i e n c e that the possibility of s p a c e - A ; a - o fa l o c a l i z a t i o n( a " n o t e v e r y t h i n g " )o f t h e s u b j e c t i s i n augurat ed.We need not r et ur n t o t he f anr ous analysisF19ud nr ade of thi s mat r ix- exper ience by f ollowing t he gam e played by his eight een, h o t h r e w a r e e la w a y f r o n r h i m s e l f , m o n t h - o l dg r a n d s o n w c r y i n go h - o h , oh in pleasure ( i . e . , " o v e r " g o n e , " t h e r e . " " n o o r n r o r e " )a n d t h e n .fortl. pul l ed i t back wit h t he piece of st r ing at t ached t o it r vit h a delighr ed dat (i .e. , "her e, " "back again") ; 51it suf f ices her e t o r em em ber t liis (peri l ou sand sat isf ied)pr ocessof det achm entf r or n indif f er enr iar ion in t h e m o t h e r ' sb o d y , w h o s es u b s t i t u t e i s t h e s p o o l : t h i s d e p a r t u r eo f t h e mother (som et im es shedisappear s by her self ,som et im es t he child nr akes h e r d i s a p p e a rc ) onstitutes localization a n d e x t e r i o r i t ya g a i n s tt h e b a c k g r o u n d o f a n a b s e n c eT . h e r e i s a j o y f u l m a n i p u l a t i o nt h a t c a n m a k e t h e rnaternalobject "go away" and m ake oneselfdisappear ' ( insof ar as one considers o f i e s e l fi d e n t i c a lw i t h t h a t o b j e c t ) .m a k i n g i t p o s s i b l e to be there(because) v'it hout t he ot her but in a necessar y r elat ion t o wliat has disappeared ; ismanipulation th i s a n " o r i g i n a ls p a t i a ls t r u c t u r e . " N o doubt one could t r ace t his dif f er ent iat ionf ur t her back. as f - aras the nam ing t hat separ at es t he f oet us ident if ied as m asculine f r om his mother - but how about t he f em alef oet us.who is f r om t his ver y m om ent i ntrodu ced int o anot her r elat ionshipt o space'lln t he init iat or y gam e, j ust as i n t he "joyf ul act ivit y" of t he child who, st andingbef or ea m ir r or , seesi tself as one ( it is slr e or he, seenas a whole) but onor her ( r hat , - An i m a g ew i t h w h i c h t h e c h i l d i d e n t i f i e s i t s e l f ; . sw 2 h a t c o u n t si s t h e p r o c e s s o f t h i s " s p a t i a lc a p t a t i o n "t h a t i n s c r i b e s the passage t o w a r d t h e o t h e ra s

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t h e l a w o f b e i n g a n d t h e l a w o f place. To practice space is thusto repeat joy f ul t he a n d s i l e n t e x p e ri e n c e of childhooO; it is, in a place;o 6e other ond to move toward the other. T hus beg i n s th e w a l k th a t F re u d c o m paresto the trampl i ng underfoot of t he m oth e r-l a n d .5 3 T h i s re l a ti o n s h i pof onesel fto onesel fgovernsthe int er nal al te ra ti o n s o f th e p l a c e (th e re l ati onsamong i ts strata) or the pedes t r ianu n fo l d i n g o f th e s to ri e sa c c u mul ated i n a pl ace(movi ng about t 6e c it y ind tra v e l l i n g ).T h e c h i l d h o o d experi ence that determi nes spati al pr ac t ic esla te r d e v e l o p si ts e ffe c ts ,p ro l i ferates, fl oods pri vateand publ i c s pac es ,un d o e s th e i r re a d a b l es u rfa c e s,and createsw i thi n the pl anned c it y a " m et a p h o ri c a l " o r m o b i l e c i ty , l i k e the one K andi nskydreamedof: " a gr eat c i ty 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 s uddenlys h a k e n b y a fo rc e th a t d e fi e sal l cal cul ati on." 5a

VIII Kailway l\avlgauon Chapter and Incarceration

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Im T R A V E L L I NIG NCARCERATIo n -n . r o b i l e i n s i d et l i e t r a i n . s e e i n g ?othing is nroving i m m o b i l et h i n g ss l i p b y . W h a t i s h a p p e r r i n gN i n s i d eo r o u t s i d e thetrain. in and regulated . umbered. The unchanging t r a v e l l e ri s p i g e o n h o l e dn o actualizatior rl ' t h e r a t i o n a l t h e g r i d o f t h e r a i l w a yc a r , w h i c h i s a p e r f e c t "Ticket s, t o pigeor r hole: utopi a. Cont r ol and f ood m ove f r om pigeonhole "' r est r oom sof 'f er pl ease t he "sandwiches? . . " . O nly ... Beer '? Cof f ee'? . wlly an esca pe f r om t he closedsyst em .They ar e a lover s' phant ar sma f o r c h i l d r e n( " W e e - w e e ! " ) - a l i t t l e s p a c eo f out for the ill, an escapade of ear liert inr es. i rrati onalit y,like love af f air s and sewer sir r t he Llt ct pias h a s i t s p l a c ei n a i e.v e r y t h i n g E x c e p tf o r t h i s l a p s eg i v e no v e r t o e x c e s s e s g r i d w o r k . O n l y a r a t i o n a l i z e dc e l l t r a v e l s .A b u b b l e o f p a n o p t i c a n d r t hat m akes possiblet he ' cl assi fyingpower , a m odule of inr pr isonnr ent p r o d u c t i o n o f a n o r d e r , a c l o s e d a n d a u t o n o n r o u si n s u l a r i t y - t h a t i s i t f l o c a lr o o t s . a n d m a k e i t s e l fi n d e p e n d e no w h a t c a nt r a v e r s e space reign r e I n s i d e ,t h e r ei s t h e i m m o b i l i t y o f a n o r d e r . H e r e s ta n d d r e a n r s supreme. Ther e is not f ilngt o do, one is in t he st ot eof r eason.Ever yt hir r g . Ever y being is placed i s i n i ts place,as in Hegel's Philosoph. t 'ct .Right l' page in m ilit ar y or der . ar r anged pr int er 's on a t ype there l i k e a pieceof r eason,is syst em ,t he quiet udeof a cer t at in Thi s or der , an or ganizat ional the condit ion of bot h a r ailway car 's and a t ext 's m ovem ent f r om one pl aceto anot her . O u t s i d e ,t h e r e i s a n o t h e ri m m o b i l i t y ,t h a t o f t h i n g s .t o w e r i n g m o u n of v i l l a g e sc , olonnades t a i n s ,s t r e t c h e s o f g r e e nf i e l d a n d f o r e s t .a r r e s t e d t he pink evening sky. t he against bui l di ngs, black ur ban silhouet t es our tw i nkl ing of noct ur nal light s on a sea t hat pr ecedesor succeeds exDi. ir er 'sM elancholia,a speculat ive hi stories.The t r ain gener alizes peri enceof t he wor ld: being out side of t hese t hings t hat st ay t her e, detached and absolut e,t hat leaveus wit hout having anyt hing t o do r vit h