I have been walking considerable distances almost every day in New York, which leads me to think how wonderful wondering around a city can be, but also confused because I can't seem to find an accurate way to describe the activity. My transformation has been from someone who frequently uses a car to pretty much exclusively a pedestrian. No sooner do I type that word it seems technically accurate but remains lacking. Somehow 'pedestrian' is a misrepresentation of the pleasure in the activity. Why has 'pedestrian' come to to be synonymous with the mundane - it's a great activity. Since when did the noun for a person travelling on foot become such a dirty word.
By contrast, the flanur, who technically does exactly the same thing, conjours images of walter benjamin stravaging around, parisian gentlemen...
very different images - it's an outrage!
the respective wikipedia entries are pretty good at establishing the differences
as are the google image search results
urban dictionary suggestion for pedestrian: 'common place, everyone doing it, conformity', but there isn't an urban dictionary entry for flaneur.
By and large it appears in a 'boys only' context, or suggested activity. I think this is quite unfair. Walter Benjamin wannabies arn't the only people who wander the urban jungle in a medative state, entranced by their environment. Yet the only women known to wonder the streets in our culture are prostitutes. Why is this so!
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