Love and Place. In Memory of Yi-Fu Tuan
https://doi.org/10.18384/2712-7621-2023-2-58-67
Abstract
Aim. The purpose of the paper is to assess the potential of the creative heritage of the ChineseAmerican geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in the context of the problems and research directions of modern humanitarian geography.
Methodology. The content analysis of Yi-Fu Tuan’s works is performed in connection with studies on the humanist and cultural geography of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, which to varying degrees are based on his works or debate with him. Methods of comparative-historical, as well as interpretive and comparative analysis are also used.
Results. We demonstrate the determining role of theoretical and methodological approaches proposed by Yi-Fu Tuan for the study of landscapes through a wide range of human senses, as well as for further research in the field of humanist geography. Tuan adheres to the concept of the dichotomy of space and place, where in an undifferentiated space there are places that arouse some feelings in a person, i.e. affection, fear, and dislike; thereby, these places become subjective, i.e. “humanized”. Using this concept, Tuan proposed the term “topophilia,” which means the liking for a place, and this feeling is not idiosyncratic: most often it is due to historical and cultural reasons (including the iconic system of culture and cosmography) and personal experience. This term and concept formed the basis of numerous studies of the meaning, sense and image of a place. Tuan’s conceptual studies also included examination of the causes of fear of the environment and specific places, which are also due to historical, cultural and personal reasons. In this paper, Tuan’s studies are presented in a broad cultural and geographical discourse. Parallels are also drawn with new scientific directions related to the perception of a place, both static and dynamic (including different tourism directions).
Research implications. The theoretical and/or practical significance of this work is to reveal the significance of the theoretical heritage of Yi-Fu Tuan for certain areas of modern geography and humanities related to the perception and un
About the Author
O. A. Lavrenova
Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Olga A. Lavrenova – Cand. Sci. (Geography), Dr. Sci. (Philosophy), Leading Researcher,
Department of Cultural Studies,
honored member of Russian Academy of Arts, The President of the International Association for Semiotic of Space and Time (IASSp+T, Switzerland),
Nakhimovsky prospekt 51/21, Moscow 117418
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