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The Rhythm of Non-Places

Marooning the Embodied Self in Depthless Space

Bibliographic Data

ID8094660
AuthorsLes Robert (0000-0002-1753-4872, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume4
Issue4
Pages569-599
Publication date2015-10-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHumanities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0787 • E-ISSN: 2076-0787
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/h4040569
OpenAlexW1931274114
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited12

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

Acoustics · Aesthetics · Art · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Negation · Performative utterance · Praxis · Reflexivity · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · Soundscape · Visual arts · Anthropology · Computer Science · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Spatial and Cultural Studies · Travel Writing and Literature · Artificial Intelligence

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    Open Access•Julian Formella•Urban Studies•2026

  • Deep Map and Short Residence as Crucial Elements for a Dialogic Research Method Investigating Places

    T Boos, Daniele Ietri et al.•The Professional Geographer•2022

  • Improvised Performances

    Open Access•Nick Wees•Humanities•2017

  • The Test

    Open Access•Benjamin Cittadini, Craig Peade•The Journal of Public Space•2019

  • More than a stopover

    Open Access•Katrin Anna Lund, Kristín Loftsdóttir et al.•Tourist Studies•2016

  • Spatial Bricolage

    Open Access•Les Robert•Humanities•2018

  • Wild camping and the weight of tourism

    Open Access•Outi Rantala, Paul Varley•Tourist Studies•2019

  • Tourism non-places

    Open Access•Paul Varley, Hannelene Schilar et al.•Annals of Tourism Research•2019

  • The Bulger Case

    Les Robert, Les Roberts•The Cartographic Journal•2014

  • The production of space

    Henri Lefebvre•The production of space•1991

  • Defamiliarizing the Mundane Roadscape

    Open Access•T Edensor•Space and Culture•2003

  • The Ritual Process

    Victor Turner, Alfred Harris et al.•Ritual Process•2017

  • Doing islandness

    Open Access•Phillip Vannini, Jonathan Taggart•Cultural Geographies•2013

  • Stuck Inside of Mobile

    Open Access•Simon Gottschalk, Marko Salvaggio•Journal of Contemporary Ethnography•2015

  • Automotive Emotions

    Open Access•Mimi Sheller•Theory Culture & Society•2004

  • Driving Places

    Open Access•Peter Merriman•Theory Culture & Society•2004

  • Driving in the City

    Open Access•Nigel Thrift•Theory Culture & Society•2004

Unique citing works8
Citations per year0,8
Citation span2016 - 2026 (11)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 7

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