On the Cyberflaneur: A Nomadology of Wandering

Abstract

This thesis is a critical response to Evgeny Morozov's article proclaiming the death of the cyberflâneur. Suspicious of the superficiality of his argument, I developed a practico-theoretical project to prove that the cyberflâneur is not dead but alive – or, if it were dead, to rescue it from its grave and bring it back to life. In the course of my response to Morozov, I develop a theoretical foundation that allows me to continue thinking about the concept and practice of the cyberflâneur in the context of the Internet. In doing so, I rely on Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's "Treatise on Nomadology: The War Machine" (2011), in combination with a history of the tradition of wandering. We are living in a postmodern-posthuman era driven by the chaotic and confusing forces that are manifested through the Internet. As such, it is no longer enough to be concerned with opening the space where we live, move and think; we cannot retreat to nature, we can't escape society. However, I see potential in the Internet. The Internet, as a physical and material network, can be actualized as an apparatus of capture. It operates as a medium for accelerating or limiting speed, or as an apparatus for the control of the transmission of information. I develop the cyberflâneur as an aesthetic figure that reveals the Internet's potential. If these revelations happen to be transmitted, then everyday life can again become an object of dispute, rather than unmeditated habituation.

Author Keywords: Cyberflâneur, Everyday Life, Internet, Nomadology, Research-creation, Wandering

    Item Description
    Type
    Contributors
    Creator (cre): Ciuk, Paul
    Thesis advisor (ths): Mitchell, Liam
    Degree committee member (dgc): Hollinger, Veronica
    Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
    Date Issued
    2015
    Date (Unspecified)
    2015
    Place Published
    Peterborough, ON
    Language
    Extent
    125 pages
    Rights
    Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
    Local Identifier
    TC-OPET-10295
    Publisher
    Trent University
    Degree
    Master of Arts (M.A.): Theory, Culture and Politics