Margaret wise brown6/28/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() Often, a city becomes one of the very important characters in a book, and a child forms a partnership with the city. Children are capable of combining the aimless gaze of a flâneur with the precise attention of a voyeur. ![]() The hidden wonders of the big city mesmerize the curious minds of children and teens, making them natural voyeurs. Enormous walking (and transportation) possibilities of the city are very attractive for youngsters. Acting as a flâneur and a voyeur, a child develops a complicated relationship with the streets and museums of the big city. The city dweller perceives her environment as an exciting, even though sometimes threatening, place. Following Eric Tribunella's adaptation of Walter Benjamin's definition of a flâneur to children, the article explores various book representations of the big cities as they are seen through the eyes of a child. ![]() In many books, a child or a teen is portrayed as a contemporary flâneur, an idle city walker. This article discusses a representation of the relationship between a child and a big city in American and European children's and teens' literature. ![]()
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