Tuesday 28 January 2014

Michel de Certeau's "Spatial Stories"

Questions:

  • Is it possible that the difference of space and place could be that space is a more unstable version of place?
  • What does de Certeau mean by "interlocutory judgement" ?



The idea of maps and tours is quite interesting in that these two words, although seem so similar not on differ in the way they are described or spoken; they also differ in terms of action where a tour is more of an experience where as a map is in a way a list of instructions. I think this idea of tour versus map and place versus space are similar that even though such arguably indistinguishable words could be far from the same. When talking about space as a "practiced space", in a way it is implied that space is a more for lack of a better word 'advanced' than place. However, it could also be said that space is a more unstable counterpart of place since space is seen to have more variables- space has 'movement' while place is 'fixed'. In the first page of the chapter, I was intrigued with the mention of spatial trajectories and its relation to'metaphor' or transportation because I started thinking of the idea that spatial trajectories could also mean a form of transition where could transition could be applied in stories where it could be seen as a connection between action and description.