Street-Observer Flneur - Essay Example

Street-Observer Flâneur Toronto is a multicultural city with people from different ethnic backgrounds interacting with each other in many different ways. Torontonians have given the city a unique culture, which is a blend of many different customs, which from the point of view of a flâneur is worth observing. However, when I look at the people closely, the question that arises in my mind is whether people with different backgrounds could get along well with each other or is there a common cause that binds them together. There are places in Toronto where a flâneur (or rather a street-observer) could see groups of people interacting with each other. However, there are also areas where people with the same cultural background come together or live together in groups. Therefore, I would like to carry out a piece of research or rather a little flânerie to try to seek an answer to the question: “Do people from different ethnic backgrounds interact well with each other in a multicultural city like Toronto?” In order to find an answer to my question, I intend to be a flâneur myself to carry out research in select places within a specified time on certain ethnic groups. Choosing specific groups and areas will help in narrowing down results in order to make the research more effective and the results reliable. There are other related questions that I will keep in mind while doing a little flânerie in order to stay focused on my topic. The other related questions for which I would try to seek answers are: 1. When people from different ethnic backgrounds are interacting, are they interacting in an ethical way? People belonging to different ethnic groups interacting with each other ethically or unethically in a given space of time will be taken into account. 2. Why is there a difference in the behaviour of dark and white skinned people in the city? I will observe the behaviour of dark and white skinned people in areas where they live together side by side and in areas which are famous for multicultural events. 3. Why are there small cultural areas with people from the same ethnicity? The behaviour of different social groups in areas with the same ethnicity will be observed in order to learn more about why they live like this. In order to get valid results, I will focus on three ethnic groups, viz. the Black Americans, the Whites, and the South Asians. I think studying these three ethnic groups will give me an idea of the different ethnicities in general upon which I can base my research. I will study how people belonging to these three racial groups coexist peacefully though there are differences in their lifestyles. I will also conduct a study to see whether the differences in their lifestyles have anything to do with the differences in their behaviour. I will also observe the behaviour of these groups in a multicultural society as well as in their own ethnic communities. This will help me understand why people behave differently when they are influenced by a change of environment. To get an idea about different peoples’ behaviour in a multicultural society, I will observe the behaviour of the Whites, the Blacks and the South Asians in Dundas square, where people from different cultural backgrounds meet. To observe South Asian people’s behaviour in their area, I will observe their behaviour down the Gerard Street in front of Indian and Pakistani restaurants. To know about the Black Americans, I will conduct the same research in the residential areas near Jane and Finch and for the Whites, in Yorkville. I will try to study the people in these four places within the space of a week’s time whatever the population is or whatever the weather is. I will carry out my research not only on working days but also on weekends in order to observe any changes in the behaviour of people if there happened to be any special events. My observations will mainly be based on the people’s interaction as to how they shake their hands or how they hug each other when they meet with people of the same race and meet with people of a different race. I will also study how their behaviour affects the environment; how they dress themselves up when they are in their community and when they are outside their community; how many people of different ethnicities are there in a group. It will give an idea about their behaviour and thinking. It will show how they react when they come into contact with people in different areas. It will show how a change in the conditions of the same city has got to do with one people behaving differently with people belonging to other ethnicities. My focus on the other related questions and in doing so the data gathered in the process will help me answer my research question! Read More