Severin the Walker and his Dark Path: Declinations of the Act of Walking in Paul Leppin’s Severins Gang in die Finsternis

This paper investigates the themes of walking and wandering in Paul Leppin’s novel Severins Gang in die Finsternis by analysing their occurrence and aesthetic connotation. The act of walking and the exploration of urban landscape are strongly present in the novel, which is set in Prague and is characterised by several depictions of the milieu; therefore, the text has been analysed from this angle in numerous previous studies, mainly mentioning the elements of flanerie appearing in the narration. The present study discusses the problematic aspects in defining the protagonist of the novel as flaneur, suggesting alternative interpretations that can describe the aesthetic experience of Severin’s walking more exhaustively. The analysis mainly follows Francesco Careri’s research on the aesthetics of walking, which are summarized in his work Walkscapes. Walking as Aesthetic Practice. Following the same methodological approach, the paper also analyses occurrences of the act of walking other than Severin’s walkabouts, focusing especially on the presence of processions throughout the text.