Tropical Flânerie & the Creative Asian City: a perambulation of literature

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.17.1.2018.3643

Keywords:

flânerie, flâneuse, flâneur, ethnography, creative city, Singapore, Asian city

Abstract

The flâneur became a literary figure of 19th century Paris and was taken up as a theoretical figure in the early 20th century. During these periods the city was undergoing massive social, architectural and infrastructural change. Today, the notion of the flâneur is experiencing a renaissance as cities are undergoing significant restructuring towards creative industries and economies. 

At the same time, two distinctive aspects of the theory of the flâneur are facing critique. One is to do with geography. The theory is based on cities of the global north, such as Paris, London and New York, and thus inherently entwined with the colonial metropole. The other aspect concerns gender. The flâneur invokes a masculine gaze, and the possibility of a female flâneuse remains under debate.

The current century has been witness to the rapid growth of cities, including in the tropics and Asia. This literature review – in the style of a perambulation – explores flânerie with examples of tropical Asian cities. Singapore is of special interest as it strives to become a ‘renaissance city’ – a global city of the arts, based on creative industries and economies. As a theory and method of critically meandering the creative city, flânerie offers a way of engaging and contributing to an ethnography of urban life. Furthermore, such a method may usefully rework the notion of the gaze of the flâneur to include the use of photography.

Author Biographies

Sneha Chaudhury, James Cook University Singapore

Sneha is currently pursuing her Graduate Diploma in Research Methods (Tropical Environments and Societies) at James Cook University Singapore. Her research interests lie in cultural sustainability, creative cities, arts culture and heritage. Her current project, for which she won the “My Research in 3 Minutes” award, engages with Singapore’s shift to become a global city of the arts.

Sneha also has a Bachelor of Business Degree in International Business from James Cook University Singapore and was on the Dean’s list for outstanding work. She is extremely active in extracurricular activities, and has been involved in numerous projects in India working with women, youth, mental health awareness and cultural sustainability with various United Nations Organizations.

Anita Lundberg, James Cook University Singapore

Associate Professor Anita Lundberg is a cultural anthropologist whose research engages people and places of Southeast Asia. Her work concerns the lived experiences of tropical liminal spaces. Anita’s projects include ethnographies in Singapore, and previously, Malaysia and Indonesia. She has received awards for outstanding teaching, research supervision, and innovative research and has held numerous international fellowships. She has curated exhibitions in Singapore, NY, LA, Paris and Sydney and her own research, theoretical, and artistic works have been exhibited at the Australian National Maritime Museum, the National Art Gallery of Malaysia and Alliance de Française. Anita has a PhD from the University of New South Wales, Australia and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow with Cambridge University, UK.

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Published

2018-04-25

How to Cite

Chaudhury, S., & Lundberg, A. (2018). Tropical Flânerie & the Creative Asian City: a perambulation of literature. ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.17.1.2018.3643