Walking as a cultural practice of perceiving of the city space through corporeity (based on the work of Michel de Certeau “Walking the City”)

Abstract

The topicality of the work is determined by the need to expand the theoretical base of the Ukrainian urbanism and the formation of the own problems of cultural studies of urban space.
 The purpose of the article is to comprehend the aspect of corporeity in the concept of Michel de Certeau’s walk (based on the work “Walking the City”) as a cultural practice.
 The methodology. The research was carried out on the basis of the analysis of the source base and scientific literature with the help of comparative analysis, semiotic and hermeneutic methods, as well as with the involvement of phenomenological and biographical approaches. Generalization was carried out using the modeling method within the framework of the cultural approach.
 The results. The peculiarities of the concept of Michel de Certeau’s walk as a form of attracting the subject of culture to the urban space are revealed. The walk is investigated as a cultural practice of urban space assimilation, realization of active civil position and formation of individuality. It is shown that corporeity acts as a way of interacting the subject of culture with the space of the city. It is shown that the subject’s corporeity combines spatial and semiotic practices of assimilation of urban space. Actions to form a symbolic dimension of the culture of the city are shown as equivalent to the practices of spatial activities of the subject. It is noted that the cultural practice of Michel de Certeau’s walk becomes consonant to the mechanics of forming the image of the city of Kevin Lynch. It is emphasized that the combination of spatial and semiotic practices in the activity of the subject leads to the formation of the cultural space of the city. The cultural practice of walking in Michel de Certeau’s “Walking the City” is shown as a form of subject integration into the city space. The isolation of the aspect of corporeity made it possible to see the walk as a holistic form of the subject’s activity, which combines spatial actions with practical assimilation of the city together with practices of constructing the image of the city. The formation of the culture of the city, therefore, is determined by the intensity of the subject’s practices in it.
 The scientific novelty. In this study for the first time we have explored the concept of Michel de Certeau’s “Walking the City” as a cultural practice. Also for the first time the corporeity aspect of the walk as a form of assimilation of the city space by the subject of culture is studied.
 The practical significance. The results of the study can be used in teaching courses on city culture, urban studies, museumification of urban space, corporeity of culture, semiotics of culture. Also scientific achievements can be included into urban projects of modern public spaces of residential areas of Ukrainian cities with the involvement of civil activists and local residents.