Paris in Turmoil: A City Between Past and Future - Eric Hazan
Published in 2022 by Verso, London, UK and New York, NY
112 pages
ISBN: 9781839764660
There are very few places in the world that seem to have a more spellbinding quality to them than the oft-romanticized city of Paris. Reading the works of French intellectuals, novelists, and poets in my latter years of high school, I could not wait to finally experience the magic of the city during my first study-abroad trip after my freshman year of college. Having just left the ancient architecture and landscapes of Rome and Florence behind me, I swear I could feel the bustling city’s unique energy firsthand when I walked the streets of Paris for the first time. Like most first-time tourists, I remember feeling enamored with the history and architecture of the city, as well as the kinetic energy of its inhabitants.
Yet, as time inevitably passed, I found myself increasingly disenchanted with the city. My romanticized idea of what Paris is often portrayed to be was quickly replaced with a much more complicated and menial picture. I began to notice the cracks and fissures (both literally and metaphorically) within the daily landscapes of the city. While I knew that Paris was not the idealized city often shown in advertisements and films, it was still a little bit of a culture shock to see the dissonance between this idealized image when compared to the issues of crime, pollution, and stark inequality that imbibe the city.
What I experienced was, of course, not a novel phenomenon by any means. Many naive and idealistic travelers can relate to this sense of despondency when faced with the day-to-day realities of life in the city. This feeling can be gradual and relatively insignificant, such as what I experienced. On the other hand, it can be traumatic and shocking, such as the experience of many Japanese tourists who, due to extreme disappointment, experience symptoms such as delusional states, hallucinations, vomiting, aggression, hostility, sweating, and acute anxiety in a case of severe culture shock that has been dubbed “Paris syndrome.”
The fact that Paris is not what it is portrayed to be is an observation so regular and pedestrian that it epitomizes the definition of banality. Yet, we should not be so quick to simply respond to someone with a cynical retort whenever the “City of Light” comes up as a topic of conversation. Just like many other European cities, Paris is a paradox: on one hand, it contains the multitudes of legacies of famous events and people that have indelibly left their mark on the city, but on the other, it is constantly changing and shifting. Like a living creature, Paris is perpetually in a state of flux, as working-class Parisians are pushed further and further out of the city while new neighborhoods pop up, each with a vibrant life of their own. In his new book, Paris in Turmoil: A City Between Past and Future, writer and journalist Eric Hazan documents the ever-changing landscape of Parisian life.
Overview:
Through this collection of short essays, Hazan explores the changing landscapes of Paris, hoping “to defend Paris, which is so bad-mouthed today -- a museum city, sluggish, gentrified, etc” (vii). Modeled after the 18th-century volumes of Tableau de Paris by Louis-Sébastien Mercier, Hazan’s work is similarly composed of a collection of brief disconnected chapters that vary wildly in their subject matter. Wide-ranging in its scope, this slim volume brings together history, philosophy, architecture, literature, philosophy, and sociology as it draws us closer to the beating heart of the famous city.
Through these brief and vivid vignettes, Hazan works to capture the sights, smells, and sounds of a city so often simplified in our imaginations. By giving us a whirlwind tour of the city, Hazan complicates our common notions of what Parisian life is really like. Whether discussing the changing demographics of the Left Bank as a result of gentrification, noting the gradual changes within the city’s bookstores and cafes, tangentially commenting on the zinc composition of Parisian rooftops, or ruminating over the lives and impacts of Sartre, Hugo, and Balzac, Hazan not only paints a picture of the Paris of the past; he also points us toward what it could become.
Commendations:
In Paris in Turmoil, Hazan’s work gives us a brief and fascinatingly vivid tour of the native city, emphasizing its multilayered dimensions. It is far too easy for many of us to think of Paris as primarily a tourist destination that is slowly but inevitably waning in its cultural significance. Hazan completely rejects this notion, arguing that while the city is indeed always changing, it also always leaves behind a trace of the past. His guiding principle in writing this work is to give a snapshot of the various social, cultural, and physical landscapes of the city for those who might come after the recent waves of gentrification that have so profoundly affected it. Hazan’s attentiveness to the subtle ghosts of Paris’s past in his writing is both fascinating and deeply enchanting.
Furthermore, it is deeply apparent that the geography of Paris has left a profound mark on Hazan. As a modern flâneur (“stroller, or “walker”) and political thinker, Hazan eruditely connects the architecture of the city and the changing neighborhoods to their larger political and social contexts. A lifelong Parisian, Hazan is able to give firsthand accounts of his own experience as he reflects on the nuances of the city. As such, he offers us an intimate and often poignant window into daily Parisian life.
Hazan’s work is also incredibly brief, as each chapter is only two or three pages on average. This makes the book an incredibly quick read, as it can be finished within a couple of hours. As such, this slim volume would be the perfect companion read on a train ride to Paris as they learn more about the past and present of the city.
Critique:
On the other hand, the short length of the book is also one of its main weaknesses. Since the chapters are so brief and disconnected from one another, it was difficult to find a common thread connecting them all together. This made for a rather fragmented and incomplete read. It seemed like these were quick sketches of thought without much depth, and while I deeply appreciate seeing the city through Hazan’s eyes, it also seemed to be over as quickly as it began. Hazan’s writing is beautiful, but it definitely left me wanting more explication and depth (which, to his credit, can be found in his earlier and similar work, A Walk Through Paris).
Relatedly, while this book could be useful and insightful for those who want to gain a deeper insight into the contours of Parisian life, it can also be a bit alienating to those who are unfamiliar with the city. Hazan references individual streets and neighborhoods of Paris glibly and without any context, which can often get lost and confused in the eyes of the unfamiliar reader. Without any map (either literal or figurative), the reader can often feel like they are taken on a whirlwind tour of the city with no idea of how they arrived from place to place. While much of what Hazan has to say is indeed interesting and poignant, he also assumes that the reader has a basic familiarity with the geography of Paris. Without this context, however, many of his references and insights will be lost on the reader.
Conclusion:
Overall, Paris in Turmoil provides a whirlwind tour of the various contours of Parisian life in the 21st century. While much of it can easily be lost on the reader who is unfamiliar with the streets and neighborhoods of Paris, Hazan's insights and perspectives give us an intimate window into the ever-changing city. By capturing the sights, sounds, and smells of the city in this brief collection of notes, Hazan invites readers to explore the city with fresh eyes.
Hazan deeply cares about both the history and future of Parisian life, and his observations call us to pay close attention to our own daily landscapes, both physical and social. Those who want to get an insider’s glimpse into the nuances of Parisian life will find much to glean from these brief essays. For the novice traveler, however, just be sure to buckle up and bring a map along for the ride.