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From: Ross Clark <benlizro@ihug.co.nz>
Newsgroups: sci.lang
Subject: =?UTF-8?Q?Re:_While_Baudelaire_did_not_invent_the_notion_of_the_fl?=
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2025 13:00:35 +1300
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On 6/01/2025 9:04 a.m., HenHanna wrote:
> i'm a huge fan of the C.Nolan film [Following]
> 
> 
> flâneur -- was the notion invented by Baudelaire?
> 
> 
> [Post-Baudelaire Development]
> 
>          After Baudelaire, the concept of the flâneur continued to
> evolve:
> 
> Walter Benjamin, in the 20th century, further developed the idea in his
> work "The Arcades Project," using Baudelaire's flâneur as a starting
> point.
> 
> The concept spread beyond Paris to other European cities, particularly
> Berlin.
> 
> 
>           In conclusion, while Baudelaire did not invent the notion of
> the flâneur, his work was instrumental in shaping and popularizing the
> concept as we understand it today. The flâneur's origins can be traced
> back earlier, with significant development occurring during and after
> the French Revolution.
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, 4 Jan 2025 9:17:49 +0000, occam wrote:
>>
>> A flâneur (FR) is apparently "... an ambivalent figure of urban
>> affluence and modernity, representing the ability to wander detached
>> from society"
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl%C3%A2neur
>>
>> Wiki:  A near-synonym of the noun is boulevardier.
>>
>> As there are not many boulevards in London, the synonym is not much
>> help.  The other suggestions - urban male "stroller", "lounger",
>> "saunterer", or "loafer" - also miss the mark somewhat.
>> "Lounger" and "loafer" for me are /indoor/ terms. A "saunterer"
>> describes a far more energetic activity than "stroller".
>>
>> Is this one of those terms (like Schadenfreude) that we have to resign
>> to as eternally foreign?

I first heard/read this word as a youth; the phrase "flâneurs and 
dilettantes" sticks in my mind to this day. I had some idea what a 
dilettante was -- not a good thing to be called -- so flâneur was 
probably similar. But I did have to look it up. Since then it has lived 
in a quiet suburb of my vocabulary, not getting out very often.

Probably a little later I heard about Baudelaire. And then again in the 
1980s some friends of mine were very excited about Walter Benjamin....

But not until today did I bother to look into its etymology. According 
to Dauzat, "flâner" is not terribly old (1645), and comes from Norman 
dialect, and thither probably from Scandinavian -- Norwegian flana 'to 
go here and there'. Like what the Vikings did.