Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Cultural geography
Traditional cultural geography was strongly embedded in
the relationships between people, settlement, and natural
environments; the term 'cultural ecology', which was often
used, signifi ed this interaction. Culture itself is a diffi cult
term to defi ne but is mainly summarized as way of life with
both material (buildings and artefacts) and non-material
(language, religion, and customs) expressions. Cultural
geography developed concepts such as culture area and
culture region to identify territories characterized by
common cultural traits.
New cultural geography has moved away from expressions
of culture to a much stronger focus on the meanings and
values that underlie these artefacts and activities. Cultural
geographers have been drawn much more into theories of
language and studies of signifi ers and symbols. All forms of
representation, including art, architecture, fi ction writing,
fi lm, and music, were afforded signifi cance in the sense that
they could be used to derive meanings and insights. Don
Mitchell (the American geographer) concluded that the
focus is on the ways particular social relations intersect with
general processes, grounded in actual places and the social
structures that give them meaning.
Non-representational theory is a new approach that
stresses performance and embodied knowledge; it moves
towards interpretations of culture based on practice. The
focus is not upon the outcomes of cultural processes but
on the performance and enactments that lead to those
outcomes.
