This collection of essays revisits gender and urban modernity in nineteenth-century Paris in the wake of changes to the fabric of the city and social life. In rethinking the figure of the flâneur, the contributors apply the most current thinking in literature and urban studies to an examination of visual culture of the period, including painting, caricature, illustrated magazines, and posters. Using a variety of approaches, the collection re-examines the long-held belief that life in Paris was divided according to strict gender norms, with men free to roam in public space while women were restricted to the privacy of the domestic sphere.

Framed by essays by Janet Wolff and Linda Nochlin - two scholars whose work has been central to the investigation of gender and representation in the nineteenth century - this collection brings together new methods of looking at visual culture with a more nuanced way of picturing city life.

List of Contributors
List of Illustrations
1. Introduction: Aruna D’Souza and Tom McDonough
2. Gender and the Haunting of Cities (Or, The Retirement of the Flâneur): Janet Wolff
3. Women in Public: The Display of Femininity in the Parks of Paris: Greg M. Thomas
4. Dusting the Surface, or The Bourgeoisie, the Veil, and Haussmann’s Paris: Marni Kessler
5. Disorienting Orient: Duret and Guimet, Anxious Flâneurs in Asia: Ting Chang
6. TRANSCRYPTS: Some Notes Between Pricks: Simon Leung
7. Not the Flâneur Again: Reading Magazines and Living the Metropolis around 1880: Tom Gretton
8. The Flâneuse in French Fin-de-Siècle Posters: Advertising Images of Modern Women in Paris: Ruth E. Iskin
9. Why the Impressionists Never Painted the Department Store: Aruna D’Souza
10. City of Strangers: Tom McDonough
11. The Contemporary Flâneuse: Helen Scalway
12. Afterword: Linda Nochlin
Select Bibliography

Aruna D'Souza Tom McDonough