Routledge Exploring Cultural Geography: An Introduction

Exploring Cultural Geography: An Introduction introduces key concepts and themes that represent the best of traditional and the most groundbreaking of current thinking and research in cultural geography. Reflecting recent developments in the discipline of geography, it draws on the humanities as a source for theoretical inspiration and methodological sophistication as well as for a wealth of extraordinary and everyday cultural material for interpretation and contextualization. Ultimately, in chapters that are interesting, compelling and not devoid of humor, Exploring Cultural Geography delves into an exciting and relevant approach to geography and offers a way to (re)discover the dynamic cultural worlds we inhabit. The text focuses on three main areas as represented in its three sections: cultural-geographical theories and concepts; geographies of cultural identity; and venues of culture. The first section foregrounds recent developments in transatlantic cultural geography, emphasizing the current ascendancy of humanities-based approaches, and introduces a range of concepts and ideas based on recent research which provides a basic interpretative framework for the entire book. The second section considers the role of landscapes, spaces and places in the construction and maintenance of identities in terms of age, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity/race and nationality. The third section explores specific venues of culture, at both local and global scales, such as homeplace, work, the mall, that bring together concepts and themes from the first two sections. Part disciplinary history, part synthesis, part cultural commentary, and even part autobiography, this book is accessibly written and well-organized and presents compelling examples and choice illustrations to help students recognize and better understand the geographies inherent to the cultural worlds about them. As such, it is intended as a stand-alone introductory cultural geography course text for adoption by professors teaching in the United States who wish to incorporate recent transatlantic cultural-geographical research into their classrooms.