Indigènes into Signs

Incorporating Indigenous Pedestrians on Colonial Roads in 1920s and 1930s French Indochina

in Transfers
Author:
Stéphanie Ponsavady

Search for other papers by Stéphanie Ponsavady in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

In Colonial Indochina, the introduction of motorized transportation led French authorities to focus their attention on the issue of pedestrian walking. The political and economic imperatives of the colonial state shaped the modern phenomenon of traffic, which isolated the indigenous body as a sign of otherness. The unruly indigenous pedestrian expressed a discursive and experiential crisis that questioned colonialism itself. This article invites us to examine the political potential of walking by considering Henri Lefebvre's notion of dressage and its limitations in a colonial setting through various examples, from French accounts of indigenous walking in daily activities to political disruptions of traffic by pedestrian demonstrators and the incorporation of indigenous bodies in road safety policies. Repeatedly, colonial subjects eluded, criticized, or undermined the rules of the road and the colony by the simple act of walking.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Transfers

Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 2665 2003 169
Full Text Views 26 1 0
PDF Downloads 38 0 0