In The Metro

by Marc Augé

Tourists climb the Eiffel Tower to see Paris. Parisians know that to really see the city you must descend into the metro. In this revelatory book, Marc Auge takes readers below Paris in a work that is both an ethnography of the city and a personal narrative. Guiding us through history, memory, and physical space, Auge juxtaposes the romance of the metro with the reality of multiethnic urban France. His work is part autobiography, with impressions from a lifetime riding the trains; part meditation on self and memory reflected in the people and places underneath Paris; part analysis of a place where the third world and the first world meet, where remnants of cultures move and press together; and part a reflection on anthropology in an era of globalization and urban development. Although he is a pillar of French thought, In the Metro is Auge's first major critical and creative work translated into English. It shows him to be firmly rooted in a tradition of literary ethnography that reaches back to Claude Levi-Strauss and Michel de Certeau, but also engaged in current theoretical debates in literary and cultural studies. In Auge's idiosyncratic and innovative approach, the act of observing the quotidian is elevated to an art. The writer and his history become part of the field he observes, and anthropology interacts with a site -- urban life -- usually reserved for sociology and cultural studies. Throughout, Auge reveals a passion for his milieu, seeing the metro as a place rich with history and literature -- an eclectic egalitarian society.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, France, Sociology, College, Architecture

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Marc Augé is a French anthropologist. His career can be divided into three stages, reflecting shifts in both his geographical focus and theoretical development: early (African), middle (European) and late (Global). These successive stages do not involve a broadening of interest or focus as such, but rather the development of a theoretical apparatus able to meet the demands of the growing conviction that the local can no longer be understood except as a part of the complicated global whole.

Reviews

[Arman · Rating 3 out of 5]

امتیاز: 3.5 و حتی 4 و جاهایی 3

تشکر از دوست عزیزی که زحمت معرفی کتاب و قرص دادن طولانی مدتش رو کشید.

[Emad Eldein · Rating 5 out of 5]

لم أكن متأكد ما الذي كنت اتوقعه، تحديداً ، من هذا الكتاب (انتولوجي في المترو) . جل ما كنت اعرفه انه كتاب بالغ الصِغر عظيم الشهرة لأستاذ علم الاجتماع والانثروبولوجيا الفرنسي (مارك أوجيه) يتكلم عن مترو الانفاق بعتبارة نموذج لفضاء ثقافي معاصر … وما أن بدات القرأة،، ومن الصفحات الاولى أدركة اني فتحت صندوق ثمين مليء بجواهر الفكر والثقافة الرفيعة… يتداخل فيه الشعري بالحجاج العقلي ، والسرد الروائي بالمفهوم العلمي ، والإنشاء الأرسطي بالإستدلال المنطقي… بحيث نقف أمام أثر هجين تسقط فيه الحدود بين العقلاني واللا عقلاني ، التاريخي واللاتاريخي ، الذاتي والموضوعي ، بين الذاكرة الفردية والذاكرة الجماعية و بينهما معاً وبين التاريخ الذي لا يرحم… لم يرسم أوجية فقط تفاصيل الحياة اليومية بل رسم رعب الحياة اليومية الصارم البارد القاسي.. هذا الكتاب من الكتب التي تثبت ان العلوم الإجتماعية هي الافضل في دراسة الانسان المعاصر

[aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

متروی پاریس.
فکر می‌کنم هرکتابی که راجع این دو کلمه، با هم یا بی‌هم، ببینم، در نگاه اول بخوام بخونم‌ش.
مترو جایی که باندهای کوتاه مدت بین مردم شکل می‌گیره، مسیرها و داستان‌ها مختلف پیش میاد، میشه زنجیر تخیل رو ول کرد یا آویزون کرد به دیگران تا اون رو با خودشون ببرن، نظم مبهمی در شلوغی/خلوتی ساعت‌های مختلف شبانه‌روز و روزهای هفته رو می‌بینیم، تاریکی شیشه‌ها موقعی که توی تونل هستیم، قطارهایی که صبح از فرودگاه حرکت می‌کنن و همونطور که کم‌کم خط رو که پایین (یا بالا و.. ، گیر قراردادهای جغرافیایی نباشیم) میان پر می‌شن، دست‌فروش‌ها، سنگینی فضای زیرِزمین، ترس سوار شدن اشتباه، دویدن (اشتباه و خطرناک) توی راه‌پله‌ها، شرط‌بندی کوچیکی که ‹آیا قطار جلوی پای من باز می‌شه؟›، تصور پریدن روی ریل، کش اومدن مسیر و القای حس نرسیدن و ...
کتاب سخت‌خوانی بود. مخصوصا برای مخاطبی که یک شیشه‌ی قطور و مات فرهنگی بهش اجازه نمی‌ده اون‌طور که دل‌ش می‌خواد ببینه؛ تفاوت‌های زیاد (از شکل شبکه، قدمت، ایستگاه‌ها بگیر تا به متکدیان، نوازنده‌های مترو، تبلیغات در و دیوار و ..)، استعاره‌ها غیرملموس و ادبیات متفاوت. تا جایی که کتاب رو حداقل دو مرتبه خوندم تا بفهمم از چه چیزی صحبت می‌کنه، اما باز هم گاها ناموفق بودم اما حسرت می‌خورم که کاش می‌تونستم کتاب رو بفهمم.

[Léo Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ce livre est extrêmement ambivalent.
À vrai dire, mais c’est bien de ma faute, je m’attendais à une étude sociologique ou anthropologique du métro.
Au lieu de cela, ce livre se présente plutôt comme une invitation à l’étude du métro, proposant des pistes de réflexion, interessantes certes, mais n’étant que des pistes. Il n’y pas a pas d’étude et d’observation réelles à proprement parlé.
Enfin, je trouve le style très inhabituel pour un ouvrage se voulant scientifique. Je ne suis pas contre un peu de style dans la littérature scientifique, au contraire, mais là, on atteint un point critique, dépassant les limites. Cette volonté de bien écrire rend le propos de l’auteur plus compliqué à comprendre, laissant une place trop importante à l’interprétation personnelle, et conduit à estomper le scientisme de l’ouvrage.

[Eärendilen · Rating 3 out of 5]

خیلی حیفه که مجاز و استعاره و هر استفاده‌ای که از خود اسامی ایستگاها کرده‌ رو اونقدری که باید نمی‌فهمیم.. من که دلم خیلی سوخت.

[StephenWoolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

A une personne qui me demandait ce que je pensais de ce livre, j'ai répondu que j'avais l'impression qu'il ne s'adressait pas à moi. Je n'ai pas les connaissances nécessaires pour l'apprécier à sa juste valeur et, passées les premières pages qui m'ont beaucoup plu (la partie sur la mémoire), j'ai lu par devoir plutôt que par plaisir.
J'ai l'impression que le style est typiquement français : érudit et whimisical à la fois, nulle volonté de vulgarisation ici. La clarté du propos est sacrifié à l'élégance du style (ça m'a fait penser à un court essai de Rancière que j'avais mis longtemps à finir La Haine de la Démocratie). Ca ne doit pas gêner ses pairs, je suppose.
La deuxième et troisième partie s'attachent à discuter la notion de "fait social total" théorisé par Mauss puis repris et critiqué par Lévi-Strauss. J'avais entendu parler de cette notion et avais en tête une définition "minimale" de celle-ci, le type qui tient en qq lignes et qui est à destination des étudiants de licence. Je pensais l'avoir comprise -vaguement et imparfaitement mais tout de même-. En fait, non.

Il y a de belles phrases, des réflexions intéressantes. Mais ce n'est pas un livre pour moi.

[Yulietita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una pequeño etnografía del viaje en un metro París. Entendible, rápida y poco densa teóricamente. Nuestras vidas se ven atravesadas por los recorridos que hemos hechos en su transcurrir, aquello que observamos en el colectivo mientras estamos yendo al colegio, a cursar, a trabajar, etc. Si bien moverse en un transporte público es una experiencia individual (al pasar por un café nos podemos acordar de por ejemplo, cierta persona con la que merendamos allí, pensamiento que no tiene la persona que viaja a mi lado porque simplemente no comparte el mismo recuerdo que yo) también se trata de una experiencia colectiva al estar normativizada colectivamente (dónde nos podemos sentar, cuándo nos podemos bajar, lo que se puede y no se puede hacer dentro de un colectivo, etc). Además, se trata de una experiencia colectiva porque es en el encuentro con el otro en donde nos definimos, nos rearmamos, nos desconfiguramos; allí determinamos qué somos y qué no somos. El metro adquiere un carácter novelesco porque cuenta historias, es una catarata de narraciones que son encarnadas solo si sus pasajeros lo habitan, ¿Qué sentido tendría un colectivo vacío? Siempre significamos habitando.

"El tren no puede partir sino con las puertas cerradas", el micro representa un micro-mundo al que entramos, el cual si bien tiene sus propias reglas, no se encuentra aislado de las demás instituciones del mundo global. Por el contrario, se encuentra condicionado por las mismas.

[Solal Solal]

J’aurais sûrement apprécié le bouquin si je l’avais compris ! Je n’ai pas le capital intellectuel !

[Eärendilen · Rating 3 out of 5]

or maybe it's just me and the context worth tout les étoiles de la monde or whatever

[Nal · Rating 4 out of 5]

dosłownie ja, gdy jeżdżę mpk

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started reading this, but I found it strangely engrossing. The links Augé weaves between people, culture, society and the subway system of Paris were fascinating.

Though I admit not having the background required to fully comprehend some of the deeper meanings intended by Augé, I found his style both vivid and descriptive enough to draw me in, and leave me wanting to learn more. In fact, more than once I found myself researching elements, simply to satisfy my curiosity. Why WAS a certain station named that way? How are these various elements connected?

Never before has the phrase "métro, boulot, dodo" been laced with so much depth. It was well worth reading, and left me pondering the the intricacies that bind people and places.

[Marco · Rating 1 out of 5]

I state that I work in the field of public transport in Milan and precisely I work in the underground transport: for this reason perhaps I am not the best person to judge this book.
However, if this is the ethnology, I'll never read a book about ethnology.
It has not given me an innovative reasoning or an enlightenment.
A real disappointment. Read in the Italian translation.

[Minli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ethnography of the Parisian metro. This was one of the books that made me love urban ethnography. The metro stops are mostly named after national events or individuals, but the riders of the metro who impose their own meanings onto a certain station.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mah. Resto perplessa.
Poco scorrevole e accattivante. Si è un po' ripreso solo nel finale.

[Mai · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting but ultimately a bit disappointing. "In the Metro" is a book of reflections on the Parisian metro system and the people who use it, by an ethnologist, hence the original French title "Un ethnologue dans le métro" (An ethnologist in the metro). Contrarily to his anthropological works, this one does not claim to be a scientific work, but despite knowing this beforehand, I still expected a bit more from the book.

What you'll find in here: well-written depictions of quotidian life in the Parisian subway, some very insightful observations of and interesting reflections on the metro, introduction to some concepts in anthropology (social fact, total social fact, rituals,...), some methodological suggestions for any young ethnologist/anthropologist who wants to study the metro.

What you will not find: data, any (sort of in-depth) analysis, interviews, anything you would expect in a sociological/ anthropological investigation.

The book is divided into 3 sections: Memories, Solitudes and Correspondences. And my enjoyment of this book went downhill as I read on, "Memories" was definitely the part I enjoyed the most and "Correspondences" the least, so maybe that's what has made this reading experience end on a not so high note for me. But again, this book has a lot of beautiful descriptions and interesting observations and I would still recommend it to anyone who's interested in getting into anthropology.

Here's some quotes from the book:

“The regular traveler on a given line is easily recognized by the elegant and natural economy of his or her way of walking; like an old sailor who calmly descends toward his boat at dawn and appreciates in a glance the billowing waves at the exit of the port, measuring the force of the wind without appearing to touch it, with style, but in a less studied way than a taster sniffing a glass of wine, listening without seeming to heed the waves slapping against the jetty or the clamor of the seagulls gathered on the shore or already scattering over the sea in little avid flocks, the seasoned traveler, especially if he or she is in the prime of life and strongly resists the desire suddenly to burst into the stairs for sheer pleasure, can be recognized in the perfect mastery of his or her movements: in the corridor leading to the platform, the traveler walks swiftly but without rushing; without letting on, all senses are on alert." (p. 6)

“Because it draws us into quotidian humanity, the subway plays the role of a magnifying mirror that invites us to take account of a phenomenon that, without it, we might risk or perhaps try to be unaware of: if the world, in its majority, is getting younger, we are the ones moving away from it. What are still for us current events have already become history for others [...] But that is a fundamental and exemplary experience: at the very moment when our own history catches up with us, that of others escapes us. [...] but from another point of view the inverse takes place: they [young people] leave us where we are, and in confusion we feel that it is they who are making or are going to make history.” (p. 14-15)

"In these anonymous silhouettes, wild and ill-adapted flowers in a "French-style" society (as it is said of gardens), we recognize the limits and signs of our collective identity: these beggars are what we are not, proof that we share with others at least this negativity. [...] they symbolize by way of negation and to the point of dizziness the whole social order, terribly concrete and terribly complete black holes in our daily galaxy. [...] That is probably one of the reasons for the sacred disquiet they arouse. They are an insurmountable, impassable border, a bit like the living dead. And the idea of making an offering to zombies is part of an obvious and immediate desire to stay within our borders…” (p. 48-49)

[catutim · Rating 2 out of 5]

No logre entenderlo del todo pero quizas ese es el arte, mas bien lo experimente mientras yo misma viaje en el metro.
Quede con una sensación de que en este espacio convergen personas distintas y cada uno sumergido en su propio universo, en su propia soledad pero que a la vez es compartida a pesar de estar rodeados por otros seres. "La multitud es una forma de soledad".
y tambienn me quedo con que el metro es un tipo de espacio "flotante", quiero decir que las personas estan pero no estan realmente, no estan presentes ni conectados con lo que esta pasando ahi ni menos con los demas y siento que eso esta super relacionado a la vida que llevamos hoy en dia, una rutina rapido como si fueramos maquinas, sin pausa ni reflexión y vivir en una especie de anonimato frente a los demas, jevi igual.

En conclusión: el metro vendria siendo una representación micro de lo macro que ocurre a nivel sociedad afuera.

:)

[MaupassantGuy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Las informaciones están mal, está constituido por 117 págs. en esta edición. Dicho lo cual, entiendo que la fecha en la que fue publicado no era la más propicia para las traducciones, pero esta es mala hasta llorar. Es literal cuando no tiene que serlo, y el problema es que muchas expresiones, perfectamente normales en francés, complican el texto hasta unos niveles innecesarios cuando son traducidas sin ningún contexto o explicación. Más allá del problema de la editorial, el inicio es muy hermoso, pero se tuerce en disquisiciones que no acaban de llegar a ningún lugar ulterior, se contenta con plantear y jugar con que va a dar con la clave de todo para que luego no sea así. Una lástima, la verdad. Augé es un autor que me encanta, pero este libro tiene reflexiones asintóticas

[A · Rating 1 out of 5]

باید یه لیست از کتابهایی هم باشه که نمی بایست به فارسی ترجمه کرد
بله عنوانی دارد که
آدم رو قلقلک می دهد که بخواند
و اگر ترجمه نمی شد همه فکر می کردند که وآآآی چه چیزی را از دست داده اند وللللللی ..
واقعا ترجمه اینگونه کتابها احمقانه ست
شاید فقط برای سودآوری برای صنعت نشر بوده
عنوانی جذاب ولی از نظر من واقعا ارزش همان اندک زمانی که برایش گذاشتم نداشت

[David Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con una prosa muy amena Augé describe sus reflexiones acerca de los recorridos en metro. Las digresiones apuntan a, en primera instancia, una tarea etnologica y sociologica muy dedicada, pasando por comentarios acerca de lo que representa moverse entre barrios que llevan nombres que la memoria y el recuerdo de los ciudadanos va muriendo.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meno interessante del suo fratellino (nel senso che questo è uscito prima de "Un etnologo al bistrot"), forse troppe citazioni "alte" per me.......

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Des beaux reflets sur ce qui se voit à travers de la vitre du train, lorsqu'il sort du souterrain.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

rigolo

[Subane · Rating 3 out of 5]

• lu pour la psycho

[Sofia Castro Pereira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terei de ler no original porque a tradução é muito má e prejudica o entendimento do ensaio.

[アマチュア読者 · Rating 3 out of 5]

p.108
另外，地鐵的景觀比起其他景觀，更能提供我們機會和方法，不是去觀察地鐵乘客的一般人格是什麼模樣，而是去體會這些人在面對各式各樣的影像、指令、暗示的時候，他們的反應、拒絕或佯裝無知。因為，無論他們反映的原因為何，我們總是習慣以一種刻板印象去套用整體，把他們均值成平庸的種類，然後依照標準的圖示說，他是消費者，她是誘人的女郎，他們是和善的年輕夫婦，他是邪惡的男人，卻完全說不清楚，究竟刻板印象是反映了現實，還是改造了現實？

[Emma Roulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a meander through Augé's memoirs set in the Paris Metro than "legit anthropology", whatever that is, but I liked it. The narrative, descriptive, ambling style suits a topic like the subway, which is packed with diverse containers of people, all following their own itineraries, all different from one another in their desires, fears, delusions, epistemologies, yet also the same in some way that Augé finds mystical and impossible to explain. It appealed to the public voyeur in me, the one who rides public transport so she can draw its passengers and wonder about their lives. And come up with imaginary names for the characters, destinations, pasts, narratives. I miss the subway.

I think Augé is trying to pin down that elusive essence of the metro, while simultaneously avoiding all claims to any sort of absolute generalization. You can only pick up traces of the implicit codes of etiquette that passengers follow, only bits and pieces of commonalities among the diverse throngs. And then those generalizations really end up saying more about you than they do about anyone else.

The one thing that Augé got undeniably right (in my opinion) is how he describes the experience of the metro as a collective solitude, a multitude of solitudes in the plural. We are all packed into one train car like sardines, shoulder to shoulder, sharing physical space. But simultaneously we are all immersed in our own worlds and not attempting to socialize with anyone unless it is out of necessity (or if there are lots of delays). We see that this is relevant now more than ever, as the passenger is surrounded by hundreds of people staring intently into their phones, playing Bejeweled or whatever (these are the best subjects to draw!!!). Yet these imposed solitary experiences still comprise a collective social culture. The question is... how to capture it....

[Blackjessamine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libriccino che all'apparenza mi sembrava piuttosto interessante: un'analisi etnologica della metropolitata di Parigi. In effetti si è lasciato leggere con piacere (merito anche della sua brevità), ci ho trovato anche diversi spunti di riflessione interessanti, non si è rivelato troppo pesante né inaccessibile ai non addetti ai lavori (nonostante diversi riferimenti a concetti basilari e pietre miliari di antropologia ed etnologia, è perfettamente possibile tenere il passo con le riflessioni dell'autore pur non avendo conoscenze troppo specifiche in materia).
Il punto però, secondo me, è che oltre a qualche spunto di riflessione e qualche curiosità interessante questo saggio non va a parare da nessuna parte. Mi è sembrato più che altro un divertissemet, un tentare una strada vagamente originale per ribadire concetti per nulla originali, senza approdare a nessun contenuto innovativo.

[Lysiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and enjoyable, presenting Paris' subway history and people's attitudes by sharing an experience. Perhaps I had trouble seeing where this was really going, and coming back often on the same points. A good author and nice book but I stay with an unfinished feeling like there was way more things to tell that he skipped, or maybe that's his way to make us wonder about those...It was nice, not my favourite book of all times but actually apropriate to read in the subway!

[Emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

paris.