Maigret et le flâneur de Benjamin: la figuration de Paris chez Simenon

Abstract

This article discusses the figuration of the Parisian urban space in the work of Georges Simenon. Object of analysis is the detective novel Maigret et l’homme tout seul, emblematic not only for the literary workings of this figuration within one particular novel, but also for the coherent symbolic representation of Paris on the scale of Simenon’s fictional world as a whole. Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project (strongly influenced by Aragon’s Paysan de Paris), and more specifically its definition of the urban flâneur as one of the most salient figures to lead to a meaningful interpretation of the nineteenth century, proves to be a useful approach. An analysis of the figuration of Paris on the level of the novel’s fictional world is followed by a detailed interpretation on close-reading level. Particular emphasis is laid on the literary concept of index, as proposed by Roland Barthes, in strong connection with Simenon’s pointillist writing style. Affective notions, such as atmosphere and nostalgia, connoted by the idea of Parisian flânerie, and often associated with the work and life of Simenon, thus receive a more defined interpretation. The concept of the flâneur, as well as some striking details of this particular novel, not only lead to the detective novel’s nineteenth-century literary roots (Cooper—Dumas—Poe), but also reveal significant references to Parisian society under Louis-Philippe.