PSYCHOGEOGRAPHICAL EXPERIENCE BETWEEN THE SELF AND THE PLACE

Background and Purpose: The absence of psychogeographical awareness is a critical factor contributing to the lackadaisical attitudes towards the place and its environment. As a result, it enables an individual to fully experience a location, both physically and intellectually, while also gaining a feeling of self-discovery and self-realisation. Methodology: The purpose of this study was to examine the responses of a group of individuals who participated in a field observation. 40 participants from a Malaysian university's foundation level were brought to Malacca to experience the environment's geographical scenery at their own leisure. The survey data was then manually transcribed and analysed in accordance with the study's aim. Findings: Interactions with individuals and observation of features in the countryside and urban surroundings enabled participants to go on a psychogeographical journey that influenced their way of thinking and behaving. All participants felt that the journey had influenced their experiences and perspectives on their thinking and behaviour, highlighting the critical role of this notion in establishing the connection between place and self. Contributions: The findings of this study provide a solid foundation for future research in the field of psychogeography. The data may be used as a baseline for future studies to determine whether a comparable impact exists in other locations, with or without significant features like those found in Malacca. Keywords: Psychogeography, place attachment, place meaning, self-discovery, Malacca. Cite as: Khaidzir, M. F. S., Hashim, R. S., & Md. Yusof, N. (2022). Psychogeographical experience between the self and the place. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 243-263. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp243-263

Pokémon Go as palimpsest

In this paper, I employ the concept of the palimpsest of meaning (Bailey, 2007) to illustrate how Pokémon Go shapes and produces relations to place. Using ethnographic data from student players at the University of Guelph, I demonstrate how augmented reality (AR) gaming constructs a curated layer of place meaning that influences players’ knowledge of, relationships to, and movement through space. In so doing, I argue that we should not ignore the potential of AR technology to influence how we come to know place, emphasizing the impacts that biases, which are coded into this technology, might have on subaltern narratives of place and on marginalized communities, particularly in the context of Canadian settler colonialism and the erasure of Indigenous knowledge.

Aztecs at Our Place: Meaning-making in an international touring exhibition

<p>While it is claimed that international touring exhibitions are highly valuable in terms of promoting intercultural understanding, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. In particular, there is a lack of visitor research on the subject. “Aztecs at Our Place” addresses this current lack of knowledge by seeking to provide an insight into the impact of touring exhibitions on their audiences. It examines the ways visitors to the exhibition Aztecs: Conquest and glory built impressions and “made meaning” about an unfamiliar culture. The exhibition was on display at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) from 28 September 2013 to 9 February 2014. It was developed by Te Papa in partnership with the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia in Mexico, and the Australian Museum and Museum Victoria. From Te Papa, the exhibition travelled to Melbourne Museum and then the Australian Museum in Sydney. This dissertation studies the visitor experience at Te Papa only but forms part of a broader study which examines two exhibitions across several international venues. “Aztecs at Our Place” draws on recent theoretical and methodological developments in the field of visitor studies including visitor meaning-making, narrative-based methods and long-term visitor insights. The study employed a qualitative research methodology, centering on narrative-based interviews with twenty-three visitors to the exhibition. Follow-up interviews were conducted with eleven of the original participants in order to determine visitors’ lasting impressions of the exhibition. The findings reveal how participants’ impressions of Aztec culture were informed by different aspects of the exhibition. Information and objects relating to everyday life were essential for creating a broader, more sympathetic understanding of Aztec culture beyond human sacrifice. The research also demonstrates that cultural comparisons, objects and emotions including empathy helped participants gain an appreciation for the Aztec way of life, in conjunction with aspects of participants’ identity. The findings shed new light on the way visitors “connect” to another culture through experiencing an international touring exhibition. Considering that cultural diplomacy is reportedly growing in importance, this research has implications for museum professionals seeking to promote intercultural understanding through an exhibition.</p>

Aztecs at Our Place: Meaning-making in an international touring exhibition

<p>While it is claimed that international touring exhibitions are highly valuable in terms of promoting intercultural understanding, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. In particular, there is a lack of visitor research on the subject. “Aztecs at Our Place” addresses this current lack of knowledge by seeking to provide an insight into the impact of touring exhibitions on their audiences. It examines the ways visitors to the exhibition Aztecs: Conquest and glory built impressions and “made meaning” about an unfamiliar culture. The exhibition was on display at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) from 28 September 2013 to 9 February 2014. It was developed by Te Papa in partnership with the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia in Mexico, and the Australian Museum and Museum Victoria. From Te Papa, the exhibition travelled to Melbourne Museum and then the Australian Museum in Sydney. This dissertation studies the visitor experience at Te Papa only but forms part of a broader study which examines two exhibitions across several international venues. “Aztecs at Our Place” draws on recent theoretical and methodological developments in the field of visitor studies including visitor meaning-making, narrative-based methods and long-term visitor insights. The study employed a qualitative research methodology, centering on narrative-based interviews with twenty-three visitors to the exhibition. Follow-up interviews were conducted with eleven of the original participants in order to determine visitors’ lasting impressions of the exhibition. The findings reveal how participants’ impressions of Aztec culture were informed by different aspects of the exhibition. Information and objects relating to everyday life were essential for creating a broader, more sympathetic understanding of Aztec culture beyond human sacrifice. The research also demonstrates that cultural comparisons, objects and emotions including empathy helped participants gain an appreciation for the Aztec way of life, in conjunction with aspects of participants’ identity. The findings shed new light on the way visitors “connect” to another culture through experiencing an international touring exhibition. Considering that cultural diplomacy is reportedly growing in importance, this research has implications for museum professionals seeking to promote intercultural understanding through an exhibition.</p>

Combining sense of place theory with the ecosystem services concept: empirical insights and reflections from a participatory mapping study

Context River landscapes represent hotspots for biodiversity and ecosystem services used and embraced by human agents. Changes in river landscapes are subjectively perceived by people and can be assessed through the lenses of cultural ecosystem services (CES) and sense of place (SOP). Objectives This study aims to assess people–place relationships in a river landscape by integrating SOP theory and the CES concept and critically reflecting on their interplay. Research objectives relate to meanings and attachments attributed by citizens to places and the influence of the physical environment and socioeconomic settings. Methods We employed a spatially meaningful place indicator in a public participation GIS survey, combining meanings elucidated through a free listing exercise and multiple-choice questions. Statistical analyses were employed to investigate relationships between meanings, place attachment, and environmental and social variables. Results The results showed that (1) place meaning assessments can complement place attachment data by enhancing the understanding of relationships to biophysical and socioeconomic variables, and (2) combinations of both assessment approaches for place meanings showed that CESs were reflected in many free listed meaning types, dominantly related to forms or practices, but neglect relational values, such as “Heimat” (i.e., in German expression of the long-standing connection to an area) or memories. Conclusions This paper explicates synergies between SOP theory and CES concept. CES research offers insights from spatial assessments, while SOP research provides theoretical depth regarding relational values linked to CES. This paper critically reflects the ostensible consent of understanding SOP as a CES and proposes considering SOP as an overarching theory for CES assessment.

RUA DO LAZER NO CENTRO DE GOIÂNIA: uma análise a partir do conceito de lugar

RUA DO LAZER IN THE CENTER OF GOIÂNIA: an analysis based on the concept of placeRUA DO LAZER EN EL CENTRO DE GOIÂNIA: un análisis basado en el concepto de lugarRESUMOA proposta deste artigo almeja esboçar uma análise da Rua do Lazer a partir do conceito de lugar por meio das narrativas dos sujeitos que ali expressam seu cotidiano, colocando a rua como lugar de significado e de diferentes dimensões enquanto movimento da vida, possível de ser apreendido pela memória. O caminho do passado dessa rua, por intermédio da história oral, torna-se um elemento primordial para entender seu sentido na vida dos sujeitos. Nessa perspectiva, a pesquisa foi realizada com comerciantes que atuam em sua maioria desde a década de 1960 e que ali persistiram apesar das diferentes reconfigurações ocorridas ao longo do tempo. Com aporte da história oral, a pesquisa buscou compreender o significado de lugar atribuído à Rua do Lazer por esses comerciantes e suas perspectivas em relação ao processo de revitalização, ocorrido no decorrer do ano de 2019, por meio de uma parceria público-privada. Como caminho metodológico, incluiu-se a abordagem qualitativa, pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e de campo, com a utilização de entrevistas realizadas in loco. Dessa forma, os dados coletados apontam a relação estabelecida entre a Rua do Lazer e os sujeitos que nela vivem, bem como para as mudanças que a configuram atualmente.Palavras-chave: Lugar; Significado; Memórias; Rua do Lazer – GO.ABSTRACTThe purpose of this article aims to outline an analysis of Rua do Lazer from the concept of place through the narratives of the subjects who express their daily life there, placing the street as a place of meaning and of different dimensions as a movement of life, possible to be apprehended by memory. The path of the past of this street, through oral history, becomes a primordial element to understand its meaning in the subjects' lives. In this perspective, the research was carried out with traders who have been operating mostly since the 1960s and who have persisted with the different reconfigurations that occurred over time. With the contribution of oral history, the research sought to understand the meaning of place attributed to Rua do Lazer by these sellers and their perspectives in relation to the revitalization process, which occurred during the year 2019, through a public-private partnership. As a methodological approach, a qualitative approach, bibliographic, documentary and field research was included, with the use of on-the-spot interviews. Thus, the data collected point us to the relationship that is established between Rua do Lazer and the subjects who live on it, as well as to the changes that currently configure it.Keywords: Place; Meaning; Memoirs; Rua do Lazer – GO.RESUMENEl propósito de este artículo tiene como objetivo esbozar un análisis de la Rua do Lazer desde el concepto de lugar a través de las narraciones de los sujetos que expresan su vida cotidiana allí, colocando la calle como un lugar de significado y de diferentes dimensiones como un movimiento de la vida, que puede ser aprehendido. a través de la memoria. El camino del pasado de esta calle, a través de la historia oral, se convierte en un elemento primordial para comprender su significado en la vida de los sujetos. En esta perspectiva, la investigación se llevó a cabo con comerciantes que han estado operando principalmente desde la década de 1960 y que allí han persistido pese a las diferentes reconfiguraciones que ocurrieron con el tiempo. Con el apoyo de la historia oral, la investigación buscó comprender el significado de lugar atribuido a la Rua do Lazer por estos comerciantes y sus perspectivas con respecto al proceso de revitalización, que se produjo durante el año 2019, a través de una asociación público-privada. Como enfoque metodológico, se incluyó un enfoque cualitativo, bibliográfico, documental y de investigación de campo, con el uso de entrevistas sobre el terreno. Por lo tanto, los datos recopilados nos señalan la relación establecida entre la Rua do Lazer y los sujetos que viven en ella, así como los cambios que actualmente la configuran.Palabras clave: Lugar; Significado; Recuerdos; Rua do Lazer – GO.

Objecthood, Flat Form, Political Formalism: OOO and Ben Lerner’s Hatred of Poetry

This is a largely theoretical essay that, in conversation with Graham Harman’s energetic view of objects and Ben Lerner’s idiosyncratic theory of poetry, articulates the basic tenets of a “flat aesthetics” and then moves on to tease out this aesthetics’ ramifications in terms of form, reading thereof, and politics. When the object’s ontological dignity is acknowledged, as flat ontology does, and further, when literature too is dealt with as an object whose “intransitive” objecthood is recognized, literary form, Moraru argues, no longer reflects an elsewhere, a beyond, or other transcendent place, meaning, or design. Instead, this form deflects clarifying light “prismatically,” illuminating other objects, the bigger ensembles into which they are arranged, as well as the potential for new arrangements and worlds. Drawing from Lerner’s Hatred of Poetry, the article’s closing segment explains how this potentiality is already embedded in form qua object and sprouts dialectically from the limits within which literary forms inherently coalesce.

Exploring the concept of place in the literature on smallholder farmers and climate change adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This critical review paper expands on the meaning of place. It opens a new narrative on how the geographic concept of place is conceptualized in smallholder farmers and climate change adaptation literature in Sub-Saharan Africa. The review suggested that place is not only the 'where' of a location but a location geographically connected and interdependent to illustrate how smallholder farmers' experiences in adapting to climate shocks interact with global efforts such as improving food security, eliminating poverty and building sustainable rural livelihood. Through the various climate change adaptation strategies exhibited by different farmer groups, the paper demonstrated that people in places have the agency to make choices that control their destinies irrespective of whatever global force overwhelms them. The paper argues sense of place expressed through ecological place meaning shapes people's intuition, beliefs, actions and experiences as illustrated by smallholders' perception of the determinant and barriers to effective adaptation strategies. The ecological place meaning also influences the 'glocalization' of climate impact on agroecological-based livelihoods at different locations and how maladaptive outcomes are perceived. Place gives people identity by (re)shaping actions and experiences and vice versa. There is an undeviating relationship between power, place and people's experience. Further exploration of the relationship between lifeworld experiences, people, and power is central in understanding the meaning of place to smallholder farmers and climate change interaction