A contemplation of the modern and postmodern is taking place in cultural criticism, cultural theory, and cultural sociology, often represented by images of traffic in photographs, films, and literary texts. Thomas Waitz shows the reasons why and how this happens and how the self-understanding and preferences of those with whom this reflection originates - namely intellectuals - is structurally inscribed. His study identifies some of the specific politics representation for traffic and shows that the spatializations thereof are perpetually determined by an inescapable sense of self-traffic.