On the move in the (post)colonial metropolis: The Paris Metro in Francophone African and Afrodiasporic fiction

Abstract

Literary texts convey the complexities of the urban experience in a tangible way. While there is a wide body of work on literary representations of Paris, the role of public transport as part of the (postcolonial) urban experience has not received much attention. This article sets out to analyse the meanings of the mobile public space comprising the Paris Metro in Francophone African and Afrodiasporic literary texts from the mid-20th century to the 2010s. The reading demonstrates how the texts represent the public space of the Metro as a symbol of modernity, a space of disappointment and alienation, an embodiment of social inequalities and as a site of convivial encounters and claims of agency. Through this analysis, the article highlights the role of literature in elucidating the intertwinement of mobility, public space and postcolonial urbanity.

Public transport as public space: Introduction

“…In a postcolonial reading of public spaces, Toivanen (2023) works with literary representations of the Paris Metro from the mid-20th century to the 2010s. The article discusses the Metro as a symbol of modernity and of convivial encounters.…”

“…Moreover, the varied temporalities of public transport significantly contribute to public-space qualities by invoking material and symbolic narratives of heritage as they appear in (popular) cultural productions (Ameel et al, 2020). The special issue builds on this stratigraphic view of public transport as public space (Westphal, 2011), unpacking layers of experience and meaning established across time, emerging in literary accounts of postcolonial urbanism as encountered in public transport use (Toivanen, 2023), mobile heritage experience (Tsang, 2023), and diverse histories embedded in linguistic landscapes of stations' names (Lim and Perono Cacciafoco, 2023).…”

Public spaces of transport as mobile public spheres and atmospheric publics

“…Second, we see in these instances how racial boundaries and feelings of inclusion or exclusion are produced in the negotiated micro-encounters of public transit passengering, and how these feelings differ for different riders. Anna-Leena Toivanen’s reading of Francophone African and Afrodiasporic fiction, for example, shows that it ‘invests the mobile public space of the Paris Metro with various meanings: ranging from being a symbol of modernity and a space of disillusionment, alienation and social inequality to a site of convivial encounters and claims of agency’ (Toivanen, 2023). Passengering, in other words, may generate alienation rather than conviviality, a sense of exclusion rather than public belonging, especially when ‘grounded in the (post)colonial entanglements between Africa and Europe’ (Toivanen, 2023: 3074).…”

“…Anna-Leena Toivanen’s reading of Francophone African and Afrodiasporic fiction, for example, shows that it ‘invests the mobile public space of the Paris Metro with various meanings: ranging from being a symbol of modernity and a space of disillusionment, alienation and social inequality to a site of convivial encounters and claims of agency’ (Toivanen, 2023). Passengering, in other words, may generate alienation rather than conviviality, a sense of exclusion rather than public belonging, especially when ‘grounded in the (post)colonial entanglements between Africa and Europe’ (Toivanen, 2023: 3074). Sträuli and Kębłowski (2023) make a similar point in their study of fare evasion in Brussels.…”