From Places to Non-Places

Marc Aug

Marc Aug
Antropolog francez;
Cariera sa poate fi impartita in 3
perioade, fiecare avand
modificari in ceea ce priveste aria
geografica studiata si teoriile pe
care le-a dezvoltat: Africa, Europa
si la nivel global;
Scrie in 1992 (tradusa in 1995 in
engleza) cartea Non-Lieux,
Introduction une anthropologie
de la surmodernit .

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

Non-Places
Defineste conceptul de non-loc (non-place)
ca fiind un spatiu de tranzit care nu are
caracteristicile si semnificatiile unui loc
antropologic (antropological place)
Exemple de astfel de locuri: autostrazi, gari,
aeroporturi, spatii comerciale etc.

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

 Il citeaza pe Jean Starobinski, afirmand ca

modernitatea se manifesta prin coexistenta
noului (generat de progresul in industrii) si a
vechiului (de constragerile caruia se
elibereaza), la care, insa, nu renunta.

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

the workshop with its song and chatter;

Chimneys and spires, those masts of the city,
And the great skies making us dream of eternity.
Charles Baudelaire

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

 Locurile (in sens antropologic)

Preocupare de modul in care oamenii relationeaza
unii cu altii si cu obiectele din jur, de conexiuni
Au o identitate proprie
Au o istorie proprie si se raporteaza la ea

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

 Non-locurile
Nu creeaza relatii intre oameni, genereaza
solitudine
Se bazeaza pe similitudine, atat in tratarea
functionala/spatiala, cat si in atitudinea fata
de utilizatori
Se pune accent pe momentul prezent
(istoria este folosita ca obiect de consum)
From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

Place and non-place are like opposite polarities:

the first is never completely erased, the second
never totally completed; they are like
palimpsests on which the scrambled game of
identity and relations is ceaselessly rewritten.

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

 Auge porneste de la notiunile propuse de

Michel de Certeau: loc (place) si spatiu
(space), definite astfel:
Loc: an instantaneous configuration of
positions. It implies an indication of stability.
Spatiu: intersection of mobile elements;
practiced place

Ca exemplificare, locul devine pentru spatiu

ceea ce cuvantul devine atunci cand este
rostit.
From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

 Traversarea locurilor in graba, asa cum se

intampla in cazul calatorului neinitiat, duce la
pierderea calitatii acestora si la transformarea
lor, dupa Certeau, in non-locuri
(accumulation of places, negation of place)
The travellers space may be thus the
archetype of non-place
From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

 Supermodernitate
Solitudine, izolare a individului (in ciuda eficientizarii
comunicarii) marcata de aparitia si proliferarea nonlocurilor
Prefigurata din modernismul baudelaireian, care
vorbeste despre instrainarea individului
Chin on my two hands, from my mansarder eyrie,
I shall see the workshop with its song and chatter

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

 Non-locurile :
- generate de cuvinte (non-locuri
imaginare) prin rostirea unor cuvinte cheie
fie substantive proprii (a week or two at a
three-star hotel in Morocco), fie comune
(holiday, voyage, sea, sun, cruise)
- Spatii concrete, de tranzitie: autostrada,
supermarket, aeroport.
From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

 Caracteristici ale non-locurilor

Nu necesita neaparat contact uman sau acesta
este minimal
Utilizatorul este ghidat prin semne, marcaje si text
standardizate, adresate unui om generic (the
average man)

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

 The user of a nonplace is in contractual

relations with it. He is
reminded, when
necessary, that the
contract exists (): the
ticket he has bought,
the card he will have
to show at the
tollbooth.
From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

A paradox of non-place: a foreigner lost in a

country he does not know (a passing stranger)
can feel at home there only in the anonymity
of motorways, service stations, big stores, or
hotel chains

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge

In the concrete reality of todays world, places

and spaces, places and non places intertwine
and tangle together.

From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge