The making of mitteldeutschland. on the function of implicit and explicit symbolic features for implementing regions and regional identity

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8092954
AutoresTilo Felgenhauer (0000-0002-1001-8111, Department of Geography, Social Geography, Jena, Germany), Mandy Mihm (Department of Geography, Social Geography, Jena, Germany), Antje Schlottmann (0000-0002-3027-7700, Department of Geography, Social Geography, Jena, Germany)
Año2005
Volumen87
Número1
Páginas45-60
Fecha de publicación2005-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGeografiska Annaler Series B Human Geography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0435-3684 • E-ISSN: 1468-0467
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.0435-3684.2005.00177.x
OpenAlexW2076906168
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10
Referencias citadas37

According to the theory of ‘significative regionalisation’ (Werlen), territorial entities may be understood as products of symbolic practices. However, the assumption that regions are not only made but also continuously performed in acts of communication effects the character of substantial research into ostensible and latent spatial imaginations apparent in communication processes. In this article, the reactivation of Mitteldeutschland (literally the ‘centre of Germany’) in a televisionseries about the region's history is the empirical starting point for conceptualizing contemporary processes of symbolic regionalization. The approach taken covers the entire communication chain from the editorial process to the film material up to everyday language use of the programs target group. Three empirical studies with specific methods of research (hermeneutics, argumentation analysis and semi‐structured interviews) illustrate this interlinked process. As an analytical tool, a fundamental distinction between implicit ‘common places’ of spatial representation and more obvious and thus negotiable explicit features of spatial signification is suggested. The analysis elucidates that — even under conditions of contemporary globalization — the massmedia reproduce traditional practices of spatial representation, as, for instance, a persistent and taken‐for‐granted use of container images indicates. Regarding the explicit features, however, the medias' influence seems to be quite low. Mitteldeutschland's geography, as proposed by the television program, is questioned and negotiated in everyday symbolic practice. Up until now, the region thus remains continuously ‘under construction’.Key words: social geographyeveryday practiceregion‐makingrepresentationmediahermeneuticsfilm analysisargumentation analysis

Aesthetics · Argumentation theory · Art · Container (type theory · Epistemology · Everyday life · Function (biology · Identity (music · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Social science · Sociology · Symbolic interactionism · The Symbolic · Cross-Border Cooperation and Integration · Ecology, Conservation, and Geographical Studies · Law · Psychology · Sociology and Education Studies