Placing the past: 'Groundwork' for a spatial theory of history.

This essay presents an argument that the past is the set of all places made by human action. The past cannot exist in time: only in space. Histories representing the past represent the places (topoi) of human action. Knowledge of the past, therefore, is literally cartographic: a mapping of the place...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:	Rethinking History Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 465 - 494
Autor principal:	Ethington, PhilipJ.
Formato:	Artículo
Publicado:	Taylor & Francis Ltd Dec2007
Materias:	Human behavior Sociology of time Human acts (Ethics) History Space Theory of knowledge Philosophy Cartography
Acceso en línea:	Ver este registro en EBSCOhost

Descripción
Sumario:	This essay presents an argument that the past is the set of all places made by human action. The past cannot exist in time: only in space. Histories representing the past represent the places (topoi) of human action. Knowledge of the past, therefore, is literally cartographic: a mapping of the places of history indexed to the coordinates of spacetime. The author's reply to published commentary emphasizes the multi-perspectival framework of his theory and the non-narrative potential of visual representation of the past.