The Aesthetics and Politics of Cinematic Pedestrianism: Walking in Films offers a rich exploration of the cinematic aesthetics that filmmakers devised to reflect the corporeal and affective experience of walking in the city. Drawing from literature in urban studies, film theory, and aesthetic philosophy, it is the first monograph to approach the history of cinema from the perspective of walking. A series of case studies providing nuanced analyses of widely referenced figures, such as the flaneur/flâneuse, vagabond, and nomad, reveal how filmmakers articulated their objection to repressive structures through depictions of walking: a common, everyday act yet transgressive, bold, and indomitable. Through the lens of Henri Lefebvre’s theory of space, Michel de Certeau’s concept of pedestrian acts, and Jacques Rancière’s treatment of the politics of aesthetics, Walking in Films traces how cinema evolved in conversation with the mobile body and the new images, styles, and techniques that emerged with it. Winner of the 2023 Best Book Award from the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis (ASCA).
By:
Asli Özgen
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781041187127
ISBN 10: 1041187122
Series: Film Culture in Transition
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 01 December 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Introduction: Cinematic Pedestrianism in the City, CHAPTER ONE, CHAPTER TWO, The Flâneur as Filmmaker, CHAPTER THREE, The Flâneuse and the Aesthetics of the Female Gaze, CHAPTER FOUR, A Wandering Eye: The Kino-Pedestrian, CHAPTER FIVE, Walking amidst Ruins: A Pedestrian Cinema, CHAPTER SIX, Feminist Nomads: The Politics of Walking in Agnès Varda, Cinematic Pedestrianism Afoot: A Conclusion, Walking into the Future: Possible New Research Trajectories, Works Cited, Bibliography, Filmography.
Asli Özgen is film lecturer at the Media Studies, University of Amsterdam. She researches film historiography, with a particular interest in feminist and decolonial interventions, focusing on difficult pasts and contested film heritage.
