1st Edition

History, Space and Place

By Susanne Rau Copyright 2019
232 Pages
by Routledge

232 Pages
by Routledge

Spaces, too, have a history. And history always takes place in spaces. But what do historians mean when they use the word "spaces"? And how can spaces be historically investigated? Susanne Rau provides a survey of the history of Western concepts of space, opens up interdisciplinary approaches to the phenomenon of space in fields ranging from physics and geography to philosophy and sociology,... Read more

Acknowledgements



What Is Historical Research into Space? An Introduction



1. Historical and Systematic Approach



1.1. Prehistory



On the History of Western Concepts of Space



Space: On the German History of a Concept



Alternative Paths: Febvre—Braudel—Lefebvre



1.2 Concepts



Everyday and Scholarly Concepts of Space: Not a Contradiction



Conceptual History



Analytical Concepts



2. Disciplinary Approaches



2.1 Geography



2.2 Cultural Anthropology, Postcolonial Studies



2.3 Sociology



2.4 Spaces and Spatialities as a New Historiographical Topic



3. Spatial Analysis



3.1 Spatial Constitution and Configurations



Macrohistorical Processes



Spatial Types, Spatial Formations



Guiding Differences for Analysis



Global Spaces: Spatial Transformations in the Course of Processes of Globalization



The City: A Changing Spatial Configuration



Trade: Interactive Relationships That Create Spaces



3.2 Spatial Dynamics: Emergence—Transformation—Dissolution



3.3 The Subjective Construction of Spaces



Perceptions—Memories—Representations



Spaces of Imagination and Other Spaces



Spatial Stories—Spatial Media—Mental Maps



3.4 Spatial Practices—Uses of Space



4. Conclusion and Outlook



5. Appendix of Sources for the Historical Study of Space



Selected Bibliography



Glossary



Acknowledgments



Afterword to the Second Edition



Index of Persons and Topics

Biography

Susanne Rau is professor of spatial history and culture at the University of Erfurt, Germany, and distinguished visiting professor at the École normale supérieure de Lyon, France.



Michael Thomas Taylor works as a translator in Berlin. From 2007 to 2012 he taught as assistant professor of German at the University of Calgary (Canada), and from 2012 to 2017 as assistant, then associate professor of German and humanities at Reed College in Portland, Oregon (USA).