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Subverting Expectation

Fischer

Routledge eBooks26 Aug 2026

NobleIDark:/48914/w1/20261105/E8273D5BDOI10.4324/9781003731641-16

Abstract

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This chapter redefines the flâneuse as a figure of feminist mobility not limited to the city but grounded in women’s self-directed movement across diverse landscapes. Drawing on Lauren Elkin’s reading of Martha Gellhorn and her notion of the verb flâner as a “need for occupation,” it argues that flâneuserie lies in moving for one’s own purposes rather than in urban strolling alone. Through readings of Gellhorn, Robyn Davidson, and Lucy Barnard, alongside critics such as Rebecca Solnit, Nina Bannett, Phiona Stanley, and Shannagh Rowland, this chapter shows how women’s walking and their testimonies about it function as sites of resistance to gendered expectations and narrative control. It concludes by insisting on a scaled, privilege-aware account of the flâneuse that encompasses both epic treks and everyday acts of claiming space and time for oneself.

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