Date of Thesis
2016
Description
At my thesis' core is the marginalized flâneur, that is, the minority figure whose urban wandering and interactions with commodities go beyond that of the typical consumer exchange. Through an exploration of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, and James Joyce's Ulysses, I find that the narrator, Clarissa Dalloway, and Leopold Bloom respectively forge relationships with commodities and advertisements that reflect their marginalized statuses within their societies. In Invisible Man, I argue that Ellison's black narrator is the novel's anti-flâneur because he is the exact opposite of the authentic flâneur, that is, the white, upper class male who anonymously wanders the street. In Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa both wanders the street and is trapped by the constructs of her patriarchal society, allowing her to emerge as the novel's marginalized flâneuse. Finally, in Ulysses, we see Leopold Bloom's liminal status as the novel's marginalized flâneur. While at times Bloom's ethnic difference allows him to pass as a white flâneur, ultimately his relationships with commodities and advertisements underscore his inner self-anxiety regarding his identity.
Keywords
flâneur, urban walking, crowds, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Ralph Ellison
Access Type
Honors Thesis (Bucknell Access Only)
Degree Type
Bachelor of Arts
Major
English
First Advisor
John S. Rickard
Recommended Citation
Jansen, Katherine Elizabeth, "The Marginalized Flâneur: an Exploration of Race, Gender, Ethnicity and Commodity Culture in the Advertising Age" (2016). Honors Theses. 365.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_theses/365