[Kzyxtalk] Dérivé and Raoul Vaneigem, the last great situationist

[King Collins]

The French word dérivé is pronounced quite differently than the English word derive. (Perhaps someone on this list like Lanny Cotler can explain the French pronunciation?) The French dérivé has its origins in the Letterist International of the 1940s, an artistic and political collective based in Paris, where it was a critical tool for understanding and developing the theory of psychogeography, defined as the "specific effects of the geographical environment (whether consciously organized or not) on the emotions and behavior of individuals.... A dérive is an unplanned journey through a landscape. (more below),

Raoul Vaneigem, the last of the great situationists, speaks of his "derives" (walking adventures) with his friend, Guy Debord (author of Society of the Spectacle). I wonder if any of us monocultural Americans have ever had such pleasures, or if we can even understand them: "MY psychogeographic dérives with Guy Debord in Paris, Barcelona, Brussels, Beersel, and Antwerp were exceptional moments, combining theoretical speculation, sentient intelligence, the critical analysis of beings and places, and the pleasure of cheerful drinking. Our homeports were pleasant bistros with a warm atmosphere, havens where one was oneself because one felt in the air something of the authentic life, however fragile and short-lived. It was an identical mood that guided our wanderings through the streets, the lanes and the alleys, through the meanderings of a pleasure that our every step helped us gauge in terms of what it might take to expand and refine it just a little further. I have a feeling that the neighborhoods destroyed by the likes of Haussmann, Pompidou, and the real estate barbarians will one day be rebuilt by their inhabitants in the spirit of the joy and the life they once harbored." from http://www.e-flux.com/journal/in-conversation-with-raoul-vaneigem/

Dérvie is an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually urban, on which the subtle aesthetic contours of the surrounding architecture and geography subconsciously direct the travelers, with the ultimate goal of encountering an entirely new and authentic experience. Situationist theorist Guy Debord defines the dérive as "a mode of experimental behavior linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances." 

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