ISOLATED IN THE BIG CITY: (RE)FORMING THE IDENTITY OF THE PROTAGONIST-FLÂNEUR IN TEJU COLE’S OPEN CITY AND SRĐAN VALJAREVIĆ’S PEOPLE AT THE TABLE

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to establish a connection between the ways identity is formed in the novels Open City by Nigerian-American author Teju Cole and People at the Table by Serbian author Srđan Valjarević. The protagonists of the aforementioned novels are immigrants who have found themselves in the isolated and urban space of the metropolis and are now trying to establish their place within it. We shall explore Charles Baudelaire’s notion of the flȃneur in an urban environment that greatly differs from the narrators’ previous homes. A reconfiguration of identity is necessary and this is accomplished through walking – an unconscious search for identity and its roots. We may ask ourselves: Is the city a constitutive element of the subject, or is the subject a social product of the city? The streets of New York and Amsterdam present the protagonists with opportunities to think about not only their current positions but their pasts. Confused and dissatisfied, they move within the big city searching for ways to accept their fates. A common element of both novels is the continual reflection of the past and social positions. The city forms the protagonists’ identities to the point that it creates a sense of disorientation and helplessness, thus destroying them. Walking is the most significant aspect of both novels, as only in movement can the identity of these flȃneurs come to light.