Please find and try to define at least two keywords in the text. Try not to repeat yourselves,
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Final HW: Walt Whitman and Derek Walcott (pp. 279-283)
1. Do some research on D. Walcott and try to account for the different perspectives of the ocean (and sea-crossings) in Walcott's "...
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Explain and give examples illustrating one or more of the following sentences: "Appreciating the character of colonialism in North A...
Since I'm the first one, I figured the most straightforward keyword would be (part of) the name of our course, as it is important to understand what we will be discussing in the next three months. I mean, of course, "cultural geography", answered right away in the first sentence of the essay: "Cultural geography is a subdiscipline of human geography that explores the human organization of space and the impact of human activities and culture upon the natural environment", that is the study no longer of how the environment affects human beings, but of how they in turn affect nature. The essay also discusses how this interdisciplinary area has evolved in the last century mentioning specifically the first wave, in relation to Berkeley School and Carl Sauer, and the second wave, protagonised by Denis Cosgrove.
ReplyDeleteThe other important keyword which deserves clarification is "positivist", since I myself had to look it up in order to understand what was being talked about and I imagine more colleagues might be in the same situation. From what I gathered, a "positivist" notion argues that one must define knowledge precisely through scientific measures, analyses and empirical data. In the case of geography this meant "going 'out there' into the 'field'" and "developing mostly descriptive accounts" of what one sees, such as what we did in class today. I'm sure there is plenty more to say about this philosophical theory, but this explanation allowed me (and I hope it was clear enough for the rest) to understand this opposition between geography in the past, focused on numbers, and geography now, more focused on ideas. Perhaps I am wrong. If so, please someone help.
.Environmental Determinism: The behaviour of human beings within a certain spacial reality is heavily influenced by nature. In other words, the natural geography is a factor in explaining certain aspects of cultural geography. While some authors place the environment as the most important and fundamental determining factor, the Berkley school of thought believe's in the predominance of multi dimensional processes, that together, create different societies, economic models, social lifestyles and religious experiences.
ReplyDelete.Landscape: Can be described as, the discursive formation that reflects the human structures in the spacial reality. Similar biomes can, and do, often result in very different civilizations. Those dissimilarities, both material and not, impose contrasting landscapes.
Space- The material form of what is literally on the ground, including infrastructure, buildings, sites of consumption, etc. is both cause and effect of social life. Therefore, space and social life are inextricably bound up as an “active moment” in human affairs.
ReplyDeleteInterdisciplinary- In the case of cultural geography, there is a crossover in methodological and theoretical approaches with disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies. Thus, it is safe to say that the "new" cultural geography is influenced by, and in turn influences, other disciplines and subdisciplines across the humanities and the social sciences.
Evolutinary: regarding Geography as a discipline and object of study and its growth and development which allows the expansion into new "branches" or subdisciplines such as "Cultural Geography".
ReplyDeleteCultural hybridity: is the mix of cultural processes and different takes on spacial organization and negotiation that have lead to the creation of more hybrid spaces throughout the last years.
Inês Monteiro
DeleteTheoretical- the article talks about the roots of academic geography, which lie mostly in colonial exploration and "discovery". It is mostly based on fieldwork, whereas cultural geography has a critical edge, with which it asserts its relevance by influencing and being influenced by other fields of study.
ReplyDeleteCultural turn-in opposition to statistical modeling and reductive causal explanations, it focuses more on the human experience as a way to justify thinking about our relationship with space and place. It incorporates a theoretical and methodological approach, looking into gender, ethnicity, political activism, embodiment, religious belief, sexuality, and more. It is part of the second wave of cultural geography.
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ReplyDeleteThe aim of spatial science was to specify the laws of spatial organization, by looking at the spatial patterns and the human activity in landscapes. In other words, to try to explain and predict patterns of human interaction, such as migration flows. However, there was a big discrepancy between reality and theory. Spatial science never really offered any viable solutions to the many social, economic and environmental problems in the 1960’s. Ultimately, it was a good theory on paper, but proved to be disappointing.
ReplyDeleteCultural politics recognizes that particular groups (divided by age, class, ethnicity, gender) have different perceptions and experiences of the world, which will, inevitably, shape and transform society.
"Spatial sicence" was another approach in the human geography that appeared after the "humanistic geography" already explained by one of our colleagues. But what is spatial science? It has been caracterized as an approach to human geography centred on the analysis of spatial patterns and processes with the aim of establishing spatial laws. However, many criticism were made about this approach, saying that their models and laws will never completely correspond to situations in real life. This means that at first, it seemed like a good option for geographers, but it turned out to have a discrepancy between what was theory and reality, making it unsuitable.
ReplyDeleteMariana Marques
DeletePhenomenological: Phenomenological geography asks how people make use of the typical space and environment in which they live and dwell. It relates to essences: for example, what is the essence of man, space, or experience?
ReplyDeleteIdentity: People develop their identity according to the region and climate conditions that they live in. People's view of life, the values they have and the expectations they have are shaped by geographical conditions.
Identity (re-definition): a series of characteristics including age, class, sex, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, among others, which according to contemporary cultural studies and critical theory shape the relations of power, one's privileges and discrimination. Through an environmental deterministic lense, people develop their identity according to the region and climate conditions that they live in. Their view of life, their values and their expectations are shaped by geographical conditions.
Delete‘Other’: An individual or minority group that can be viewed as an ‘outsider’ to a place or social environment. It is the contrast of an insider. Creation of ‘others’ can be limited through increasing the inclusivity of a social environment (e.g. representation).
ReplyDelete‘Place’: Through Placemaking, a space can be transformed into a place. This can be defined as an environment that is culturally or emotionally significant to an individual or group.
(re-definition)
ReplyDeleteLandscape: human-made spaces in the land that are developed and that eventually become administrative regions.
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ReplyDeleteInterdisciplinary (re-definition): influences and is influenced by other disciplines and subdisciplines; it allows a multitude of connections that are created through the study of different areas, leading to a knowledge network that includes those areas.
ReplyDeleteLandscape (re-definition): is the geographic base where culture and its signifying practices of self, groups, the creation of ‘others’ and of worlds of experience take place, maintaining an emphasis on the environment of, space within and location of that landscape. Therefore, landscape provides a starting point for cultural geography.
ReplyDelete^ Sophie Dijkman
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