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A special issue of Humanities (ISSN 2076-0787).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 June 2015) | Viewed by 133462

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Dr. Les Roberts

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Department of Communication and Media, University of Liverpool, 19 Abercromby Square L69 7ZG, UK
Interests: spatial anthropology; urban cultural studies; memory-work and everyday cultures; liminality, space and travel; culture and everyday life
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This is a proposal for a Special Issue of the journal, Humanities, on the theme of “deep mapping”. For some time, there has been much discussion of the impacts of a “spatial turn” in arts and humanities disciplines. The more far-reaching these impacts have become, the broader the scope of what a more “spatially inflected” humanities might, and indeed does, look like. Yet, while the breadth of scholarship to which we can attach the provisional label “spatial humanities” has, not surprisingly, foregrounded issues of space and place, questions of time and temporality equally underpin theoretical and practical interventions that are advancing research in this area. The idea of “deep mapping”, which, as a term, has its origins in the writings of William Least Heat-Moon (but as an idea, “deep mapping” has a much deeper provenance), is one that finds resonance across spatial humanities research more generally. While not necessarily couched in such terms, deep mapping speaks to a rich profusion of perspectives that are, in some shape or form, engaged with the mapping or tapping of a layered and multifaceted sense of place, narrative, history, and memory. From Historical GIS, to developments in literary or cinematic geography, or work on popular music heritage and the characterization of place, to approaches that fall under a more generic banner of “psychogeography”, deep mapping encompasses a loose set of orientations and practices that give fuller expression to what we have come to understand as “spatial humanities”. Contributions for this Special Issue are therefore sought from a wide range of fields that address questions that engage with or respond to a conceptual focus on “deep mapping”. Papers that more specifically explore themes of cultural memory in relation to deep mapping or spatial humanities research are particularly welcomed.

Dr. Les Roberts
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Humanities is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

References:

Bodenhamer DJ, Corrigan J, and Harris TM (eds) (2010) The Spatial Humanities: GIS and the Future of Humanities Scholarship. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Bodenhamer DJ, Corrigan J, and Harris TM (eds) (2015) Deep Maps and Spatial Narratives. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Cooper D, Donaldson C, and Murrieta-Flores P (eds) (2015) Literary Mapping in the Digital Age. London: Ashgate.

Gregory I and Geddes A (eds) (2014) Towards Spatial Humanities: Historical GIS and Spatial History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Hallam J and Roberts L (eds) (2014) Locating the Moving Image: New Approaches to Film and Place. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Roberts, L (ed) (2012) Mapping Cultures: Place, Practice, Performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Tally Jr, RT (2012) Spatiality. London: Routledge

Warf B and Arias S (eds) (2008) The Spatial Turn: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. London: Routledge.

Keywords

spatial humanities
spatial anthropology
deep mapping
cinematic geography/cartography
literary geography/cartography
historical GIS
digital cultural mapping
psychogeography
spatial turn

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Published Papers (13 papers)

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166 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Deep Mapping and Spatial Anthropology

by Les Roberts

Humanities 2016, 5(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/h5010005 - 14 Jan 2016

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 14658

Abstract

This paper provides an introduction to the Humanities Special Issue on “Deep Mapping”. It sets out the rationale for the collection and explores the broad-ranging nature of perspectives and practices that fall within the “undisciplined” interdisciplinary domain of spatial humanities. Sketching a cross-current of ideas that have begun to coalesce around the concept of “deep mapping”, the paper argues that rather than attempting to outline a set of defining characteristics and “deep” cartographic features, a more instructive approach is to pay closer attention to the multivalent ways deep mapping is performatively put to work. Casting a critical and reflexive gaze over the developing discourse of deep mapping, it is argued that what deep mapping “is” cannot be reduced to the otherwise a-spatial and a-temporal fixity of the “deep map”. In this respect, as an undisciplined survey of this increasing expansive field of study and practice, the paper explores the ways in which deep mapping can engage broader discussion around questions of spatial anthropology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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2354 KiB

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The Deep Mapping of Pennine Street: A Cartographic Fiction

by Claire Reddleman

Humanities 2015, 4(4), 760-774; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4040760 - 6 Nov 2015

Viewed by 4337

Abstract

Pennine Street is a cartographic art experiment, twinning High Street 2012 in London with the Pennine Way, a long-distance footpath running between the Peak District and the Scottish Borders. Pennine Street was initially prompted by the London 2012 Olympic spectacle; more specifically, by the militarization of the Games through the proposed deployment of surface-to-air missiles at sites in London. The project initially took the form of three organized walks along the route of High Street 2012, from Aldgate to Stratford. Readings were made while walking on each occasion, and both photographic and textual collages emerged out of the initial walks. The project engages the idea of trespass as a political action, as both potent and futile, and traces the development of modes of photographic and textual “trespass”, or transgression. Textual collage is employed to investigate the possibility of articulating Pennine Street as a “space-between” the empirical and the imagined. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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A Strange Cartography: Leylines, Landscape and “Deep Mapping” in the Works of Alfred Watkins

by James Thurgill

Humanities 2015, 4(4), 637-652; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4040637 - 16 Oct 2015

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 30266

Abstract

In 1921 the photographer, antiquarian and amateur archaeologist Alfred Watkins, delivered his newly formed thesis on the origins of ancient alignments in the west of England to the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club of Hereford. Watkins posited a correlation between ancient forts, moats, mounds, churches, trees and place names, which he had shown to produce straight lines running across the landscape. In 1922 Watkins published his first book on the subject, Early British Trackways, mixing amateur archaeology, social history and supposition to introduce what Watkins named “leylines” and setting out the guidelines for other would-be ley hunters. This paper explores Watkins’ ley hunting as a practice of “deep mapping”, examining its use as an applied spatial engagement with the hidden trajectories of the landscape. In addition to providing a concise cultural history of the leyline, with particular reference to the works of Alfred Watkins, this paper develops a critical engagement with ley-walking through an auto-ethnographic response to a leyline that has been mapped and walked in Norfolk, England. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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988 KiB

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Going Deeper or Flatter: Connecting Deep Mapping, Flat Ontologies and the Democratizing of Knowledge

by Selina Springett

Humanities 2015, 4(4), 623-636; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4040623 - 16 Oct 2015

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 8701

Abstract

The concept of “deep mapping”, as an approach to place, has been deployed as both a descriptor of a specific suite of creative works and as a set of aesthetic practices. While its definition has been amorphous and adaptive, a number of distinct, yet related, manifestations identify as, or have been identified by, the term. In recent times, it has garnered attention beyond literary discourse, particularly within the “spatial” turn of representation in the humanities and as a result of expanded platforms of data presentation. This paper takes a brief look at the practice of “deep mapping”, considering it as a consciously performative act and tracing a number of its various manifestations. It explores how deep mapping is a reflection of epistemological trends in ontological practices of connectivity and the “flattening” of knowledge systems. In particular those put forward by post structural and cultural theorists, such as Bruno Latour, Gilles Deleuze, and Felix Guattari, as well as by theorists who associate with speculative realism. The concept of deep mapping as an aesthetic, methodological, and ideological tool, enables an approach to place that democratizes knowledge by crossing temporal, spatial, and disciplinary boundaries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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The Rhythm of Non-Places: Marooning the Embodied Self in Depthless Space

by Les Roberts

Humanities 2015, 4(4), 569-599; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4040569 - 10 Oct 2015

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 9469

Abstract

Taking as its starting point the spatiotemporal rhythms of landscapes of hyper-mobility and transit, this paper explores how the process of “marooning” the self in a radically placeless (and depthless) space—in this instance a motorway traffic island on the M53 in the northwest of England—can inform critical understandings and practices of “deep mapping”. Conceived of as an autoethnographic experiment—a performative expression of “islandness” as an embodied spatial praxis—the research on which this paper draws revisits ideas set out in JG Ballard’s 1974 novel Concrete Island, although, unlike Ballard’s island Crusoe (and sans person Friday), the author’s residency was restricted to one day and night. The fieldwork, which combines methods of “digital capture” (audio soundscapes, video, stills photography, and GPS tracking), takes the form of a rhythmanalytical mapping of territory that can unequivocally be defined as “negative space”. Offering an oblique engagement with debates on “non-places” and spaces of mobility, the paper examines the capacity of non-places/negative spaces to play host to the conditions whereby affects of place and dwelling can be harnessed and performatively transacted. The embodied rhythmicity of non-places is thus interrogated from the vantage point of a constitutive negation of the negation of place. In this vein, the paper offers a reflexive examination of the spatial anthropology of negative space. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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Mapping out Patience: Cartography, Cinema and W.G. Sebald

by Taien Ng-Chan

Humanities 2015, 4(4), 554-568; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4040554 - 10 Oct 2015

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 7322

Abstract

Cinematic cartography can be an especially powerful tool for deep mapping, as it can convey the narratives, emotions, memories and histories, as well as the locations and geography that are associated with a place. This is evident in the documentary film Patience (After Sebald) by Grant Gee, which follows in the footsteps of W.G. Sebald and his walking tour of Suffolk, England, as described in his book The Rings of Saturn. A variety of strategies in cinematic cartography are used quite consciously in Gee’s exploration of space, place and story. Using Teresa Castro’s three cartographic shapes of cinema, I structure an analysis of the film’s opening scene through a discussion of cinematic cartography, or the plotting of geospatial data onto a map, as well as what I will differentiate as cartographic cinema, or the mapping of space through the cinematographic image. I argue that both are necessary not only to have a deep understanding of the world and our place in it, but also in how to transmit that knowledge to others. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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Regular Routes: Deep Mapping a Performative Counterpractice for the Daily Commute ¹

by Laura Bissell and David Overend

Humanities 2015, 4(3), 476-499; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4030476 - 23 Sep 2015

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6502

Abstract

This article offers a textual “deep map” of a series of experimental commutes undertaken in the west of Scotland in 2014. Recent developments in the field of transport studies have reconceived travel time as a far richer cultural experience than in previously utilitarian and economic approaches to the “problem” of commuting. Understanding their own commutes in these terms—as spaces of creativity, productivity and transformation—the authors trace the development of a performative “counterpractice” for their daily journeys between home and work. Deep mapping—as a form of “theory-informed story-telling”—is employed as a productive strategy to document this reimagination of ostensibly quotidian and functional travel. Importantly, this particular stage of the project is not presented as an end-point. Striving to develop an ongoing creative engagement with landscape, the authors continue this exploratory mobile research by connecting to other commuters’ journeys, and proposing a series of “strategies” for reimagining the daily commute; a list of prompts for future action within the routines and spaces of commuting. A range of alternative approaches to commuting are offered here to anyone who regularly travels to and from work to employ or develop as they wish, extending the mapping process to other routes and contexts. Full article

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2558 KiB

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Glas Journal: Deep Mappings of a Harbour or the Charting of Fragments, Traces and Possibilities

by Silvia Loeffler

Humanities 2015, 4(3), 457-475; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4030457 - 18 Sep 2015

Viewed by 7804

Abstract

With reference to a hybrid ethnographic project entitled Glas Journal (2014–2016), this article invites readers to reflect on the cultural mapping of spaces we intimately inhabit. Developed with the participation of local inhabitants of Dún Laoghaire Harbour, Ireland, Glas Journal seeks to explore the maritime environment as a liminal space, whereby the character of buildings and an area’s economic implications determine our relationship to space as much as our daily spatial rhythms and feelings of safety. Deep mapping provides the methodological blueprint for Glas Journal. In order to create a heteroglossic narrative of place and belonging, I will contextualise the project with references to seminal works in the visual arts, literature, film and geography that emotionally map spaces. Chronotopes of the threshold will be used to elaborate on spatial and cultural phenomena that occur when crossings from public to private and interior to exterior take place. Touching upon questions such as “What is a space of protection?”, “Who am I in it?”, and “Who is the Other?”, this article traces forms of liquid mapping that do not strive to conquer but rather to gain insight into the inner landscapes that are reflected in outer space. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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1286 KiB

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Long Street: A Map of Post-Apartheid Cape Town

by Giovanni Spissu

Humanities 2015, 4(3), 436-456; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4030436 - 11 Sep 2015

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5797

Abstract

No map fully coincides with the territory it represents. If the map and territory do not coincide, what can the map capture of the territory? According to Bateson, the answer is its differences. Drawing from Gregory Bateson’s ideas, we can envision an ethnographic representation of the city through which we can represent the urban territory through the different ways its inhabitants perceive it. In this article, I describe the process that led me to build a map of post-apartheid Cape Town from Long Street. I took inspiration from Bateson’s book Naven and compared it with the District Six Museum map in Cape Town with the objective of representing post-apartheid Cape Town through its differences. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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Archaeological Excavation and Deep Mapping in Historic Rural Communities

by Carenza Lewis

Humanities 2015, 4(3), 393-417; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4030393 - 10 Sep 2015

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6601

Abstract

This paper reviews the results of more than a hundred small archaeological “test pit” excavations carried out in 2013 within four rural communities in eastern England. Each excavation used standardized protocols in a different location within the host village, with the finds dated and mapped to create a series of maps spanning more than 3500 years, in order to advance understanding of the spatial development of settlements and landscapes over time. The excavations were all carried out by local volunteers working physically within their own communities, supported and advised by professional archaeologists, with most test pits sited in volunteers’ own gardens or those of their friends, family or neighbors. Site-by-site, the results provided glimpses of the use made by humans of each of the excavated sites spanning prehistory to the present day; while in aggregate the mapped data show how settlement and land-use developed and changed over time. Feedback from participants also demonstrates the diverse positive impacts the project had on individuals and communities. The results are presented and reviewed here in order to highlight the contribution archaeological test pit excavation can make to deep mapping, and the contribution that deep mapping can make to rural communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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Deep Mapping and Screen Tourism: The Oxford of Harry Potter and Inspector Morse

by James Cateridge

Humanities 2015, 4(3), 320-333; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4030320 - 19 Aug 2015

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 9992

Abstract

This article proposes that the experiences of screen tourists in Oxford help to create a theoretical “deep map” of the city which explores place through narrative. Building on the travel writing of William Least Heat-Moon and other recent work in the spatial humanities, two case studies of major screen tourism drivers are considered and analyzed. The British television drama Inspector Morse (1987–2000) explores the ambiguity of Oxford intellectualism through its central character. Morse’s love of high culture, especially music, provides suggestive additional layers for multimedia mapping, which are realized online through user-adapted Google Maps and geolocated images posted on the Flickr service. Harry Potter fans may not be “pure” or independent screen tourists, but they provide a wealth of data on their interactions with filming locations via social media such as Instagram. This data provides emotional as well as factual evidence, and is accumulating into an ever richer and deeper digital map of human experience. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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Mapping Deeply

by Denis Wood

Humanities 2015, 4(3), 304-318; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4030304 - 6 Aug 2015

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 9220

Abstract

This is a description of an avant la lettre deep mapping project carried out by a geographer and a number of landscape architecture students in the early 1980s. Although humanists seem to take the “mapping” in deep mapping more metaphorically than cartographically, in this neighborhood mapping project, the mapmaking was taken literally, with the goal of producing an atlas of the neighborhood. In this, the neighborhood was construed as a transformer, turning the stuff of the world (gas, water, electricity) into the stuff of individual lives (sidewalk graffiti, wind chimes, barking dogs), and vice versa. Maps in the central transformer section of the atlas were to have charted this process in action, as in one showing the route of an individual newspaper into the neighborhood, then through the neighborhood to a home, and finally, as trash, out of the neighborhood in a garbage truck; though few of these had been completed when the project concluded in 1986. Resurrected in 1998 in an episode on Ira Glass’ This American Life, the atlas was finally published, as Everything Sings: Maps for a Narrative Atlas, in 2010 (and an expanded edition in 2013). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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Anticipating Deep Mapping: Tracing the Spatial Practice of Tim Robinson

by Jos Smith

Humanities 2015, 4(3), 283-303; https://doi.org/10.3390/h4030283 - 21 Jul 2015

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6896

Abstract

There has been little academic research published on the work of Tim Robinson despite an illustrious career, first as an artist of the London avant-garde, then as a map-maker in the west of Ireland, and finally as an author of place. In part, this dearth is due to the difficulty of approaching these three diverse strands collectively. However, recent developments in the field of deep mapping encourage us to look back at the continuity of Robinson’s achievements in full and offer a suitable framework for doing so. Socially engaged with living communities and a depth of historical knowledge about place, but at the same time keen to contribute artistically to the ongoing contemporary culture of place, the parameters of deep mapping are broad enough to encompass the range of Robinson’s whole practice and suggest unique ways to illuminate his very unusual career. But Robinson’s achievements also encourage a reflection on the historical context of deep mapping itself, as well as on the nature of its spatial practice (especially where space comes to connote a medium to be worked rather than an area/volume). With this in mind the following article both explores Robinson’s work through deep mapping and deep mapping through the work of this unusual artist. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deep Mapping)

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