Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Reactions to grand theory
Postmodernism is perhaps best known as a style of art
and architecture, in particular, that is characterized by its
diversity of forms and lack of uniformity. Some of the more
spectacular buildings in Paris, such as Les Halles and parts
of La Défense, can be put in this category. It also has more
general meaning as a movement against grand theory, or
'meta-narratives', and an assertion of the importance of
differences and pluralities. It is this aspect that most affected
human geography.
Post-structuralism is a position that rests heavily on the
'French connection' or the highly infl uential succession of
French critical theorists who had major infl uence on human
geography from about the early 1970s. Again, there is a
strong opposition to grand theory but a major interest in
language, signs, and the interpretation of texts. This has
been described as a questioning of the relationships between
situations and the ways in which they are represented.
Discourse analysis is an approach that enables us to reveal
the hidden motivations behind a text or behind the method
that has been used to interpret it. The search is less for an
answer to a specifi c problem than an understanding of the
conditions that underlie it and the assumptions on which
it is based. Discourse analysis is often seen as a product of
postmodernism because of the latter's rejection of the idea
of a general belief system and its own view of a world that is
inherently fragmented and heterogeneous.
neighbourhoods were starved of mortgage funds because of
investment decisions that had a spatial frame of reference. On
a wider scale, regional disparities in wealth and development
could be explained by the market-driven decisions of corporate
business.
