Introducing humanistic geography through fieldwork

Abstract

One challenge of teaching humanistic geography is to encourage students’ responses to landscapes in ways which may be different from their previous experience. Conventional wisdom about successful field teaching suggests that students should be prepared beforehand with the skills and techniques to be employed. The author questions how appropriate this is in humanistic geography and the article describes and evaluates an alternative approach using fieldwork as the introductory activity.     

作为中国人文地理学鉴镜的段义孚思想

段义孚的人文主义地理学在西方学界和社会引起巨大反响,但中国地理学界对其认识还非常欠缺,相关研究更是迟滞。针对目前常见的对段义孚的研究是否属于地理学以及如何把握和推广等问题,本文进行了回应和解释,并探讨了段义孚的思想与学术对中国人文地理学的启示与借鉴意义。作为中国人文地理学发展的一面镜子,段义孚不但具有开创精神,而且40多年的坚持更是令人敬佩;广泛取材于历史、人文以及其他学科,经验的方法,流畅生动的文风值得学习和推广;对其的专门研究应当得到鼓励;其理论不但具有较大普适性,而且是治疗人文素养和精神欠缺的中国人文地理学的一剂良药。     

服务业地理学的科学关怀和人文关怀

本文试图通过对自助式服务体验的重要性研究,整合服务业地理学的科学关怀和人文关怀的生命引导功能,并最终导出"统一服务业地理学"的学科概念。研究对现代服务业地理学的学科构建和研究方向具有指导性的作用。     

段义孚人文主义地理学的哲学视野

段义孚的人文地理学思想,在很多方面来源于20世纪哲学的发展。本文侧重于对他影响最大的实用主义、现象学和符号学三个领域,探索这些哲学思想如何或明确或潜在地影响了他的人文地理学观念。实用主义主要启发了他"日常经验"及其连续性和关联性的关注,符号学为他阅读建筑和城市的一些地理特征关系提供了帮助。而现象学则在更深远的意义上影响了他,从他最初批判地理科学的数学化方法,到后来他对时间和知觉问题的关注,以及由此产生的地方感问题,均在现象学的视野下展开。此外,他以描述和归纳呈现一个"人"的地理经验的视野,也源自与现象学"面向事实本身"的主张。本文最后提及中国哲学和智慧对他的影响,他有效地融合了东西方的思想,使之对人文地理学的发展起到了开创性的作用。     

Regional patterns in the experiences and treatment of the sick poor, 1800–40: rights,obligations and duties in the rhetoric of paupers

Abstract

This article focuses on three individual paupers who wrote a series of letters about sickness to their home towns in Essex, Northamptonshire and Lancashire. While it would be wrong to claim that the rhetoric and strategies employed by the three writers are representative of all pauper writers, they are representative of those who wrote multiple letters to their parish of settlement and a detailed exposition of their writing can tell us much about sickness and its relief by communities in the last decades of the Old Poor Law. While sick paupers have largely escaped historiographical attention in a literature that has tended to focus on the elderly, widows, children and the unemployed able-bodied man, more detailed study of the life- and dependency-cycles of poor people is beginning to show that sickness was the pivotal experience of people on the margins and that sickness relief swallowed up a very sizeable chunk of poor law resources in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The strategies, thoughts and experiences of the sick poor are thus not just important in their own right, but also for what they tell us about the sentiment of communities towards the poor and the experiences of paupers in those communities.     

试析当代中国社会人文精神的缺失与重建

当代中国社会人文精神的缺失,并不是改革开放和市场化的结果,而是由建国后几次大的政治运动中积淀下来的蔑视人的价值与尊严的力量所致。我们必须以当前中国特色社会主义事业的全面推进和社会主义核心价值体系的构建为立足点,全面总结并分析目前我国社会人文素养不高、人文精神缺失的历史与现实根源,正视人文教育及科学发展所面临的突出问题,从而在全社会营造良好的人文氛围,使人文精神的重建真正在全社乃至全民族达成共识。     

论段义孚早期的环境经验研究及其现象学态度

从段义孚在《人文主义地理学》发表之前的作品来看,他对于人的环境经验研究有如下基本观点:1反对生硬的量化记录,推崇基于丰富的感知觉的直接描述式地理学论文写作;2反对用偏狭的意象与心智地图来阐释人类的环境认知,推崇能够将环境认知的过程与结果相结合的"基模";3反对孤立地认识和使用"环境"概念,推崇富有人文精神且能够将环境概念容纳于其中的"世界"概念。对段义孚而言,现象学主要是一种哲学立场,而不是需要从形式上去模仿、从术语上去标示甚至被某些"定论"所绑缚的一种操作指南,因此,与其说他的作品中运用了某种严格的"现象学方法",不如说他的工作体现出一种方法论层面的"现象学态度"。     

初论段义孚人本主义地理学思想的形成

1976年,人本主义地理学之父段义孚在《美国地理学家协会会刊》发表的论文中首次使用了"人本主义地理学"这一称法。人本主义地理学的出现由20世纪60年代末的人本主义思潮所带动,其通过关注人类自身状况而反映出与地理学学科的其他分支息息相关的各种现象,因而从属于地理学。段义孚将融合了地理学与哲学的、曾被称为"地理知识学"的学科推向一个新的高度。段义孚认为,"对生命意义的探求"是人本主义地理学的实质性核心,也是一直以来推动其进行人本主义地理学研究的动力。正如人本主义研究以人类的经验、意识以及知识为出发点,本文从人本主义视角出发,对段义孚人本主义地理学思想的形成过程进行系统化梳理。通过追溯段义孚人生经历中对其有重大影响的人物和经典著作,指出时代背景与个人经历共同促成段义孚人本主义关怀的形成。     

Into the Spiral of Problematic Perceptions: Modern Anti-Semitism and gebildetes Burgertum in Nineteenth-Century Germany

This article attempts to relate modern anti-Semitism to theincreasingly close interactions of Jews and non-Jews in an ageof political emancipation and social integration. It arguesthat the changing mutual perceptions of Jews and Protestantsin the German educated bourgeoisie are of central importancein this regard. In nineteenth-century Germany, literature movementssuch as realism, and various human sciences such as anthropology,Protestant theology or philology provided ample material fordiscussing the Jewish character. These fields suggest four waysof perceiving Jews: the Jew as parvenu, as Talmudist, as materialistand as nomad. Indeed, bourgeois Jews themselves contributedto these literary and scholarly debates. Their discussions werefrequently shaped by the attempt to confront anti-Jewish misconceptions.Moreover, they propagated their own interpretation of the Jewishcharacter: the figure of the humanistic Jew. This Jewish interpretation,which identifies a universal mission, proves to have a twofoldnature: it is not only a counter-attack against anti-Semiticpolemics, but also a particular result of the peculiar Jewishadaptation of bourgeois culture. As the article argues, however,this humanistic perception of Jewish identity caused concernon the Protestant side, which led to further polemics and thusfurther Jewish defence. The resulting spiral of problematicperceptions was the consequence of the growing social intimacyof bourgeois Jews and Protestants in nineteenth-century Germany.Modern anti-Semitism, it is thus argued, can be interpretedas a specific form of rejection of ambivalence and the establishmentof neat binary codes in the confusing closeness of Jews andnon-Jews.     

Homecoming or tourism? Diaspora tourism experience of second-generation immigrants

Diaspora tourism is often considered a form of ‘homecoming,’ but for the children of immigrants who are born in the new country, the question remains as to whether they perceive their parents’ homeland as ‘home’ or destination. Moreover, advancements in transportation and communication technologies allow contemporary immigrants to maintain transnational ties to their homeland, which in turn may affect the nature of diaspora tourism. The purpose of this study is to understand the lived experience of second-generation immigrants when they travel to their ancestral homeland, and explore the extent to which second-generation transnationalism shapes their diaspora tourism experiences. Using a phenomenological approach, 26 second-generation Chinese-Americans who had the experience of traveling in China were interviewed. Four themes were identified from semi-structured interviews: language and appearance, search for authenticity, family history, and sense of ‘home.’ Proficiency in their parental language was found to be a main cause of negative experiences, yet occasionally a source of pride and attachment. Their search for authentic experiences was not unlike other tourists, while familial obligations sometimes limited their experience. Traveling back to the homeland not only allowed them to understand their parents and family history, but also reflect upon their life through experiencing contemporary China. Finally, as the transnational attachment of second-generation immigrants was not rooted in a specific locale, they could feel connected to the homeland without actually visiting their family's place of origin. Findings contribute to transnationalism and diaspora tourism literature by comparing first- and second-generation immigrants and identifying the difference between contemporary transmigrants and classic diaspora groups with regard to their diaspora tourism experience.     

Living through,living with and living on from breast cancer in the UK: creative cathartic methodologies,cancerous spaces and a politics of compassion

This paper contributes to a growing literature exploring the embodied emotions involved in death studies. It does so through a creative cathartic autobiographical account of living through and on from breast cancer. In presenting this ‘storifying experience’, this UK-based paper has three key aims: first, it attempts to counter the disjuncture between the fleshy and emotional cancer journey I have travelled through and the sometimes abstract, disembodied accounts of cancer circulating in some geographical texts; second, it reveals some geographical insights that are uncovered through the use of creative cathartic methodologies which unsettle commonly held discourses about dying and surviving; and third, it poses some troubling questions for geographers working in this field with respect to the methodologies, politics and emotions of such research. In the paper, I argue that employing a creative cathartic methodology gestures towards ‘an opening into learning’ that provokes emotional enquiries about what it means to be taught by the experience of (traumatised) others. In particular, I advocate for a politicised compassion that both cares for those who are living through, with or living on from life-threatening illnesses and also cares about the complex conditions that shape their experiences, both within and beyond the academy.     

中国传统文学在新马的传播--兼论土生华人的作用

中国传统文学在新马流播极早,它们主要是通过早期劳工口头传播、私塾授受传播、文人沙龙传播、华人社团传播、峇峇群落马来文翻译传播等渠道,使中国传统文学在当地被广泛接受,中国传统文化得以延续.中国文学由此对当地的华人与华文文学产生巨大的影响.     

国外旅游者饮食消费研究述评

旅游者饮食消费作为一种基本的旅游活动之一,是国外旅游研究中重点关注的领域,并形成相当丰富的研究成果。文章在对国外有关旅游者饮食消费的文献进行梳理整理的基础上,从旅游者饮食消费与旅游目的地、旅游者饮食消费的影响因素、旅游者饮食体验三个方面对国外的研究进行回顾,并在旅游者饮食消费体验的分析与回顾的基础上提出旅游者的自我矛盾的理论模型;文章最后从三个方面对国内的未来研究提出展望,第一,强调旅游研究中的非视觉景观与体验;第二,关注全球化背景下旅游目的地饮食的生产与消费;第三,探讨旅游者饮食消费背后的社会文化含义。     

符号学视角下的旅游体验研究——西溪湿地的个案分析

本文以西溪湿地为例,将符号的解读和建构问题纳入到旅游体验中进行考察。在文献分析和实地调研的基础上,通过分层聚类、交互分析等方法,对西溪旅游者体验动机的符号感知、体验过程的符号解读以及体验质量的符号要素构建进行了实证分析。结果表明,休闲浪漫是旅游者对西溪的基本符号感知,不同符号类型旅游者人口社会属性和旅游行为存在结构差异,体验的质量也不尽相同;结合体验效果的符号要素相关性解读,不仅为研究旅游体验的本质提供了新的符号学理论视野,也为丰富和强化旅游体验提供了有效的操作途径。     

人文主义地理学与地理学人本传统的复兴

实证主义地理学是通过"认识论翻转"确定均质化空间而保证其有效性的,这在根本上规定了实证主义方法论中人文世界的隐没。人类科学理性的缔造经过"认识论翻转",确保了其割裂人文世界的普世价值观,并随着实证主义在近现代的成功和学科建制化而得到制度保障。这一历程在显示实证主义对地理学神圣指导作用的同时,暗含了其对地理学分工的不适。在"认识论翻转"层面上,人文主义地理学对地理学研究传统进行了"否思":①重新评估了地理学的本体论问题,使人文世界定位于地理学研究领域之内;②发展了针对人文世界的整体主义方法论,但并非对实证主义的反判;③人文主义地理学的立足点伦理和价值是内在的而非实证主义外在的;④人文主义地理学讨论的知识论要求"本体论-认识论与方法论-价值论"的联通以获得具有人性的世界图景。     

DÉPART: GÉOGRAPHIE et POÉSIE

Soumises à des préventions humanistes et romantiques, la géographie ne voit dans le texte littéraire qu'un réservoir d'images géographiques. Pareille approche impose de sérieuses limites à l'analyse littéraire en géographie: elle interdit pour le moins tout rapport avec le texte poétique moderne. A partir des Illuminations de Rimbaud, première manifestation du non-sens dans la linérature occidentale, il est montre que ce qui est essentiel dans cette poésie, ce n'est pas l'expérience origrnale de la ville qu'elle présente, mais bien le bouleversernentde la fonction textuellequ'elle opère. Du coup, le géographe est amené a s'interroger sur son propre rapport aux textes .
Influenced by romantic and humanistic prejudices, geography has used imaginative literature solely as a source of geographical images. Such an approach puts serious limits on literary analysis in geography. It has prevented geographers from making meaningful contact with modern poetry. From Rimbaud's epoch-making Illuminations, which made a place for nonsense in Western literature, it is shown that significant images (urban motifs) stand on very thin ice in modern poetry, especially when contrasted with the new role that Rimbaud gives the text. Furthermore, it is argued that geographers can take advantage of Rimbaud's joyful play on words by re-examining their own position in relation to texts .     

奥林匹克文化的和谐理念探析

2008年北京的人文奥运不仅批判地继承了奥林匹克文化的超越精神,而且阐明了人本主义的价值取向。从和谐的角度来阐释奥林匹克精神,有利于处理现代社会所面临的人文危机以及奥林匹克自身的矛盾冲突。奥林匹克精神强调求同存异,从这个意义上说,它寻求的是人类的整体利益,对于消除国家和民族间的矛盾冲突,增进彼此理解,起到了极大的推动作用。     

Were Women Present at the Demographic Transition? Questions from a Feminist Historian to Historical Demographers

This essay identifies some of the deficiencies in discussions about fertility decline that bridge the gap between feminist historians and historical demographers. The author suggests that women are portrayed in the historical demographic literature as lacking decision-making ability. The author emphasizes that women are viewed in the literature as reproductive resources in a national context or statistical entities in quantitative analysis rather than as active and informed participants in reproductive decision-making. The author points out that the concept of fertility decline itself identifies reproduction with a biological universe unrelated to issues of social change. Since the concept of demographic transition was introduced in the 1950s, it has been criticized for its false sense of universalism about a complex set of social relations. Princeton University's European Fertility Project is criticized by David Levine as describing "large-group behavior at the expense of familial experience." Levine uses the couple as the primary unit of analysis rather than region, but ignores, as pointed out by Jay Winter and Wally Seccombe, that the changing position of women and changing marital relations are key to fertility decline. Fertility discourses at the turn of the century focused on the decline in racial dominance, class differences in fertility, and women's selfishness in taking control of their bodies. Thereafter, there was a shift from eugenics and biologism to medical sciences, statistics, and social sciences and policy. The long period of historical invisibility of women is now being reworked by scholars such as McNicholl, who recognize the different interests of men and women in families. It is argued by Anthony Gibbons that lesbian couples may be pioneers in clearly separating their reproductive capacities from their sexuality, a direction that heterosexuals may be approaching.     

Career paths and mobility in the Swedish hospitality sector

ABSTRACT

How career paths are interpreted and conceptualised by hospitality workers and industry representatives remains underexplored in current literature. In this paper, we highlight and discuss sector-specific and contextual factors that influence the possibility of establishing a career within the Swedish hospitality sector. The paper uses interviews with hotel managers, who describe and discuss motivations and choices made throughout their own careers and interviews with young (former) seasonal hospitality workers who describe and reflect on their future plans and work-life experience. Additional data are derived through observations at national seminars and meetings for representatives from the Swedish tourism and hospitality industry, where issues of competence and careers were discussed. The findings indicate that the shaping of career paths within the hospitality sector is influenced by two normative and discursively produced ‘truths’ about career paths in the hospitality sector: the importance of internal knowledge transfer and the importance of high mobility. These narratives impose expectations on individuals to be mobile, to change jobs frequently and to work their way from the bottom-up within the industry, and are based on a presumption of a diversified and dense local hospitality labour market. However, since the conditions are different due to contextual, geographical features of labour market size and structure, attractiveness of places, etc., these expectations are difficult to fulfil in places other than in larger urban areas. These normative assumptions of what a successful hospitality career is also have consequences for the development of the hospitality sector as external influences of competence from other sectors and higher education are not seen as valuable, which makes the sector self-contained and not open to external, potentially innovative knowledge.