Kaliningrad text through the eyes of a flaneur (Königsberg con text in the text of Kaliningrad)
- DOI
- 10.5922/2225-5346-2025-4-3
- Pages
- 47-71
Abstract
This paper attempts to conceptualize the city as both text and context—an interpretive construct jointly produced by the urban environment and its inhabitants in their search for self-understanding within a specific place and time. Using the example of the phenomenon of the ‘Petersburg text’ and the emerging ‘Königsberg-Kaliningrad text’, it is shown that these texts play the role of a reflexive form-mirror in culture, helping the city comprehend itself. Using the example of Brodsky’s poetics, the author shows how the Königsberg context clearly shines through the Kaliningrad text, without which the modern city is neither visible nor felt. At the same time, the author reveals that the usual means of understanding and comprehending the city and oneself in the city are not enough. New metaphors and tools are needed to help us understand the city. Among them are porosity, rhythm, and imprints. The article introduces the basic metaphor of the city as a porous sponge. It also presents the phenomenon of the flaneur as a special figure uniquely suited for phenomenological immersion in urban everyday life. Using the example of contemporary Kaliningrad, the article illustrates episodes from the city’s everyday life and argues for the need to re-humanize the urban space, restoring a sense of proportion between the city and its inhabitants.