Spatial Turn: Etymology/Term, Meanings and Concept
Spatial Turn: Etymology & Brief Definition
The term “spatial turn” draws from the root word “spatial,” relating to space, and the concept of a “turn” as a shift in focus or methodology. In the humanities and social sciences, the spatial turn signifies a growing emphasis on the importance of space, place, and geography in understanding cultural, social, and historical phenomena.
Meanings and Concepts of the Spatial Turn:
- Space as More Than a Container: Challenges the idea of space as a neutral backdrop and emphasizes its active role in shaping social relations, power dynamics, and cultural production.
- Focus on Lived Experience: Prioritizes the subjective and embodied experiences of people within spaces, and how these experiences are shaped by social, cultural, and political forces.
- Relationships Between Scales: Examines how local, regional, national, and global spatial scales interact and influence one another.
- Interdisciplinarity: Blurs boundaries between traditionally separate fields like geography, history, literature, sociology, and anthropology, encouraging collaboration around spatial analysis
- Use of Technology: Leverages tools like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to visualize, analyze, and interpret spatial data.
Spatial Turn: Definition of a Theoretical Term
The “spatial turn” refers to a theoretical shift within various disciplines, particularly the humanities and social sciences, where scholars emphasize the significance of space and spatial relationships in understanding phenomena. It represents a departure from traditional approaches that prioritize time, history, or language as primary analytical frameworks. Instead, it underscores the importance of spatial dimensions in shaping human experiences, identities, and social structures.
Spatial Turn: Theorists, Works and Arguments
Here’s a breakdown of some key theorists, their influential works, and the arguments they put forward within the spatial turn:
Key Theorists
- Henri Lefebvre: French Marxist philosopher and sociologist.
- Work: “The Production of Space” (1974)
- Arguments:
- Space is not merely physical but socially produced and shaped by power relations.
- Capitalist society produces abstract spaces that reinforce dominant ideologies.
- Advocates for a “right to the city” – where inhabitants can reclaim and reimagine urban environments.
- Michel Foucault: French philosopher, historian, and social theorist.
- Works: “Discipline and Punish” (1975), “History of Sexuality” (1976-1984)
- Arguments:
- Power functions through the organization and control of space (think of prisons, hospitals, schools).
- Spaces discipline bodies and shape subjectivities.
- Spatial arrangements reflect and reinforce existing power structures.
- Edward Soja: American geographer and urban theorist.
- Work: “Postmodern Geographies” (1989), “Thirdspace” (1996)
- Arguments:
- Space is fundamental to understanding social power dynamics.
- Emphasizes social justice and calls for rethinking spatial relations to expose inequalities.
- Emphasizes a “thirdspace” viewpoint, which incorporates lived experience, resisting a simple binary view of social spaces.
- Doreen Massey: British geographer and social theorist.
- Work: “For Space” (2005)
- Arguments:
- Space is fluid and dynamic, always in the process of becoming.
- Space emerges from multiple interconnected trajectories rather than being fixed.
- Spaces contain multiple and sometimes conflicting histories and power relations.
Important Note: This is just a small selection within a much broader field! The spatial turn encompasses numerous theorists and perspectives across various disciplines.
Spatial Turn: Major Characteristics
- Space as Constructed and Meaningful: Space isn’t just a background, but actively shaped by social forces and carries cultural significance.
- Literary Example: In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, the house at 124 Bluestone Road becomes a symbol of slavery’s trauma and a contested site of memory and healing.
- Focus on Mapping and Cartography: Examines how maps create and reinforce power structures, and how literature engages with the act of mapping.
- Literary Example: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness explores the destructive power of European colonial mapping projects in Africa and how Marlow navigates (and subverts) those representations.
- Boundaries and Borders: Focuses on how physical and symbolic boundaries construct identities and control movement.
- Literary Example: Chicana literature like Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera explores living in-between spaces, both literally on the US-Mexico border and within hybrid cultural experiences.
- Movement and Mobility Pays attention to travel, displacement, and migration with a focus on how they shape and are shaped by spatial relations.
- Literary Example: Jhumpa Lahiri’s works often explore the spatial disorientation and re-orientations of characters who move between countries and cultures.
- Power and Place: Highlights who controls space, whose bodies are allowed or restricted in different spaces, and how this connects to race, gender, class, and other social structures.
- Literary example: Gothic novels frequently use claustrophobic, labyrinthine settings of castles or old houses to mirror power imbalances and social anxieties.
Spatial Turn: Relevance in Literary Theories
| Literary Theory | Relevance of Spatial Turn |
| Postcolonial Theory | Spatial turn highlights the spatial dynamics of colonialism and postcolonial landscapes, emphasizing how power structures are inscribed onto physical spaces. It enriches analyses of hybrid identities, diaspora, and cultural exchanges by considering the spatial contexts in which they occur. |
| Ecocriticism | The spatial turn emphasizes the interconnectedness of human societies and the environment, enriching ecocritical analyses by focusing on the spatial dimensions of ecological narratives, landscapes, and environmental justice issues. It encourages exploration of how literary texts represent and interact with physical spaces and ecosystems. |
| Feminist Theory | Spatial turn illuminates gendered spaces and the embodied experiences of women within them, offering insights into how space shapes social constructions of gender and power dynamics. It expands feminist analyses to consider the spatial dimensions of oppression, resistance, and agency in literature and society. |
| Postmodernism | It challenges linear narratives and fixed identities by foregrounding the multiplicity of spatial experiences and the fragmentation of spatial realities. It encourages postmodern analyses to explore the spatial complexities of globalized, post-industrial societies, disrupting traditional notions of place and identity. |
| Cultural Geography | It aligns with the core concerns of cultural geography by emphasizing the social construction of space, place, and landscape. It enriches literary theories by drawing attention to the spatial practices and representations embedded in texts, fostering interdisciplinary dialogues between literary studies and geography. |
Spatial Turn: Application in Critiques
1. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice:
- Spatial Analysis: Mapping the movements of characters between grand estates, rural settings, and urban spaces could reveal social hierarchies and the limitations imposed on characters (particularly women) depending on their location.
- Boundaries: The novel is full of physical and social boundaries. Consider how characters cross them, the rules dictating who can enter certain spaces, and the consequences of those transgressions.
- Home as Symbol: Examining the descriptions of various homes (like Pemberley or Longbourn) can expose ideas of class, taste, and the social performances expected in these domestic spaces.
2. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet:
- Interior vs. Exterior: Consider how Hamlet’s inner turmoil and questions of identity are reflected in the movement between confined spaces of the castle and the vastness of outdoor locations (like the graveyard).
- Surveillance and Space: Hamlet feels constantly watched. A spatial analysis reveals the architecture of power within Elsinore – who has access to which rooms, and how that influences plot and character actions.
- The Ghost: The ghost disrupts spatial boundaries between life and death, forcing confrontations with memory and destabilizing the ‘order’ of the castle.
3. Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway
- Mapping Urban Experience Tracing Clarissa’s movement through London can reveal the social and psychological landscape of the city in the post-WWI era.
- Private vs Public: The novel shifts between interior spaces of characters’ minds and the public sphere of the streets. A spatial lens might explore how those spaces blur or inform each other.
- Temporal and Spatial Layering: Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness style creates a layering of past memories onto the present cityscape. How does this impact our sense of place, time, and identity?
4. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
- Colonial Disruption of Space: Analyzing spaces within the pre-colonial Igbo village versus how those spaces are transformed or destroyed with colonial intrusion offers a powerful critique of power and cultural erasure.
- Sacred vs. Profane: Examine how spaces hold spiritual meaning for the Igbo and how these spaces are challenged and violated by colonial forces.
- Imposition of New Order: The spatial layout of colonial administrative buildings and settlements can be analyzed as reflecting control and a new, foreign spatial regime.
Spatial Turn: Relevant Terms
| Term | Brief Definition |
| Space | Not just a physical container, but a social construct reflecting power, culture, and experience. |
| Place | A specific location imbued with meaning, memory, and social relations. |
| Mapping | The process of representing spatial relationships, often revealing power structures and contested meanings. |
| Cartography | The field devoted to the creation and study of maps. |
| Geography | The study of Earth’s physical and human features and their interconnectedness. |
| Borders | Physical or conceptual boundaries that separate, control movement, and shape identities. |
| Mobility | The ability to move through and across spaces, impacting access and experience. |
| Landscape | A visible environment as shaped by both natural and human forces, often carrying cultural significance. |
| Scale | The focus of analysis and how spatial phenomena relate to local, regional, national, or global levels. |
| Embodiment | The understanding that our experience of the world is shaped by our physical bodies and their location within space. |
Spatial Turn: Suggested Readings
- Agnew, John A. Place and Politics: The Geographical Mediation of State and Society. Routledge, 2014.
- Dear, Michael J., and Steven Flusty, editors. The Spaces of Postmodernity: Readings in Human Geography. Blackwell, 2002.
- Elden, Stuart. The Birth of Territory. University of Chicago Press, 2013.
- Gregory, Derek, et al., editors. The Dictionary of Human Geography. 5th ed., Blackwell, 2009.
- Hubbard, Phil, et al., editors. Key Thinkers on Space and Place. 2nd ed., Sage Publications, 2008.
- Keith, Michael, and Steve Pile, editors. Place and the Politics of Identity. Routledge, 1993.
- Merrifield, Andy. The New Urban Question. Pluto Books, 2014.
- Mitchell, Don. Cultural Geography: A Critical Introduction. Blackwell, 2000.
- Said, Edward. Orientalism. Vintage Books,1979.
- Tuan, Yi-Fu. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. University of Minnesota Press, 1977.
