Place Chapter 3

This chapter focuses on some readings that give different points on the debates surrounding place. The readings seem to cover many different debates about place, so much so, that the connections between them were sort of lost on me. I see these debates on place as freestanding and chapter three as purely informative of these debates, and not so much how the readings by Harvey and Massey are connected. It’s interesting that Harvey seems to look at gated communities negatively, they may add boundaries, but some people are looking for that type of lifestyle and if that is what speaks to them then why shouldn’t they be able to live in their ivory tower. The example in the book of the murder may have not been carried out by someone from outside the community but that frequently does happen which is one reason why gated communities form. I also enjoyed Massey’s point that Globalization does not always just mean greater homogenization, but can show greater uneven development on a social level. As for the last part of the chapter regarding Stoke Newington, the excerpts and analysis seem to go back and forth over how the place is changing, has changed and peoples’ opinions on what it represents. All this says to me is that different people will have different memories of different places that will be triggered or changed or lost forever depending on growth and development of a certain place. I feel the very definitions of place are unique for each person, and will always differ depending on your viewpoint.

Place III

This reading talked about the rules of places such as the way buildings are constructed to code and sidewalks are sandwiched in between lawns and streets, also comparing this to the expected social behaviors of people and how these behaviors shape places. I like the idea of erosion of place, but in the context of places shifting and changing, being sculpted, but never reaching a final sculpture. I disagree that there is a connection between placelessness and mobility. Just because someone moves about, does not mean they do not take their place with them. I also don't think the idea of placelessness applies to locations such as disney world or amusement parks, I believe the very feelings children can associate with such a place give it great significance. It fits with Cresswell's definition, a place is created through the feeling and emotion and importance from person to person. The way I see place is anywhere that gives a feeling, an emotion, that one can remember upon.

Place II

Cresswell spends part of this reading talking about the regional concept of place and how it is important for people to share proximity and culture for their culture to grow. Also he focuses on the relationship between nature and culture and how they relate to the definition of Place.
However, one of the things i enjoyed about this reading was the way in which the home as a place was focused on. I personally agree with the idea that home is the best idea of Place I can come up with. Most people imbue their homes with a sense of self, which falls exactly under the concept of Place as defined by the book. However not everyone feels this way, and there are some people who tie negative feelings to the concept of home.

Place

This is the intro chapter of the book and as such it gives an overview of the definition of place. The definition is show through a few different ways. One way that Cresswell talks about place is through Agnew’s ideas of Location, Locale, and Sense of place. The Location being the physical area, the Locale being the intended use and environment of the area, and Sense being the emotions and feeling attached to a place. I also enjoyed the analysis between Landscape and Place, which helps the reader have a better idea of Place. Especially the part when Cresswell talks about a landscape not being livable.

In this reading the concepts of connotation and denotation were discussed and I find I have to agree with the writer when they say that the two can never be fully separated in the context of reading an image. Images, no matter how simple they may be always seem to have a connotation with them. Interestingly enough, this seems to connect nicely to what I took away from the myth part of the reading. The reading talks about myths as being a social, pop culture device that makes certain ideas seem true, even if they may change over time. My best example of an image that always has a connotation associated with its denotation, and has a myth about it would have to be cigarettes. Nobody looks at someone smoking without an opinion, and that has changed over the years with smoking originally being commonplace, moving to being deadly and unacceptable, and nowadays once again being a cool thing to do, even if on a different level. This really seems to exemplify an images' connotation and myth.

Chandler's Signs

Let me start out by saying that this reading is one the most high-minded, and hard to absorb pieces of informational text I have ever read. The basic gist of the article got to be very redundant and long winded, as I think all academic texts are made to be. Maybe there are a set of unspoken rules about writing academic papers that requires them to be mind-numbing. Anyway, This was about signs, and the theories of what they consist of. It has been said that they consist of a signifier and a signified, the signifier being the expression itself, and the signified being the content it imparted. Also, I think the concept that language is arbitrary, and a word can have more than one meaning is something the author wanted to impart. There was also a theory about a three part representation which included an example like the stop light being the representamen, the interpretant being the idea of stopping at the light and the object which would be cars physically stopping. I think these theories are both right, and the rest of the article is a pissing contest about who can break down the system of signs into more categories and interpretations.