How Distant is Close Enough? Exploring the Toponymic Distortions of Life Story Geographies

Bibliographic Data

ID13100809
AuthorsSébastien Caquard (0000-0003-4654-5244, Concordia University, corresponding author), Eddie Shaw (0000-0002-4099-7365, Concordia University), Emory Shaw, José Alavez (Concordia University)
Year2021
Volume8
Issue1
Pages102-121
Publication date2021-10-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeoHumanities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2373-5678 • E-ISSN: 2373-566X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/2373566x.2021.1965898
OpenAlexW3206988621
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited28

Stories are now broadly recognized as important sources of geographic information in different domains of the spatial humanities. The methodologies mobilized to identify these spatial data, however, remain the subject of intense debate. In this paper, we contribute to this debate by focusing on what we can learn from the close reading of stories to improve the quality of distant reading approaches. We do this through an in-depth comparative analysis of how toponyms are used across 10 oral life stories of exiles. Results show that a “distant listening” of the number of country names mentioned in these stories provides an accurate representation of their global geographies. However, the finer-scaled geographies of these stories become highly distorted when counting more local toponyms such as neighborhoods, cities or regions. This study also reveals that results could be improved by accounting for the distribution and repetition of toponyms throughout these stories. Such insights and their nuances are described in this paper with an aim to help narrow the gap between close and distant reading methodologies

Archaeology · Geography · Toponymy · Geographic Information Systems Studies · History · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Social and Cultural Studies

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