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Corporeal routes: climbing towards culture
Traditionally, spatial knowledge has been conceptualized and explained through the use of the cognitive map hypothesis, in which the metaphor of the topographic map is used to construct an explanation of the way in which knowledge about space is stored and used. I argue that the topographical metaph...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Social Anthropology
2024
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| _version_ | 1867613963142823936 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Goodrich, Andre |
| author2 | Green, Lesley |
| author_browse | Goodrich, Andre Green, Lesley |
| author_facet | Green, Lesley Goodrich, Andre |
| author_sort | Goodrich, Andre |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Traditionally, spatial knowledge has been conceptualized and explained through the use of the cognitive map hypothesis, in which the metaphor of the topographic map is used to construct an explanation of the way in which knowledge about space is stored and used. I argue that the topographical metaphor confuses the map with the territory and is therefore inadequate for approaching the study of peoples' spatial knowledge, as the necessary logical reduction that accompanies the practice of transforming the territory into the map is fundamentally alienating of contextual dynamics and particularities. Furthermore, the topographical metaphor requires and thereby reinforces the Cartesian split, and its implicit privileging of the mind over the body, which disqualifies spatial knowledge from the realm of practical consciousness. Drawing on conversations with, and participant observation of rock climbers throughout 2003, I propose a model of spatial knowledge anchored in corporeal simulation rather than mental representation, and demonstrate the necessity of this conceptual shift by arguing that one's perception of the environment proceeds from the culturally inscribed and extended body, just as the body is imaginatively extended and inscribed in order to meet the requirements of effective and acceptable functioning in the context of a particular located activity. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40497 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:44:29.611Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Social Anthropology |
| publisherStr | Social Anthropology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40497 Corporeal routes: climbing towards culture Goodrich, Andre Green, Lesley Social Antropology Traditionally, spatial knowledge has been conceptualized and explained through the use of the cognitive map hypothesis, in which the metaphor of the topographic map is used to construct an explanation of the way in which knowledge about space is stored and used. I argue that the topographical metaphor confuses the map with the territory and is therefore inadequate for approaching the study of peoples' spatial knowledge, as the necessary logical reduction that accompanies the practice of transforming the territory into the map is fundamentally alienating of contextual dynamics and particularities. Furthermore, the topographical metaphor requires and thereby reinforces the Cartesian split, and its implicit privileging of the mind over the body, which disqualifies spatial knowledge from the realm of practical consciousness. Drawing on conversations with, and participant observation of rock climbers throughout 2003, I propose a model of spatial knowledge anchored in corporeal simulation rather than mental representation, and demonstrate the necessity of this conceptual shift by arguing that one's perception of the environment proceeds from the culturally inscribed and extended body, just as the body is imaginatively extended and inscribed in order to meet the requirements of effective and acceptable functioning in the context of a particular located activity. 2024-08-13T13:01:49Z 2024-08-13T13:01:49Z 2004 2024-08-13T12:50:05Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40497 eng application/pdf Social Anthropology Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | Social Antropology Goodrich, Andre Corporeal routes: climbing towards culture |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Corporeal routes: climbing towards culture |
| title_full | Corporeal routes: climbing towards culture |
| title_fullStr | Corporeal routes: climbing towards culture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Corporeal routes: climbing towards culture |
| title_short | Corporeal routes: climbing towards culture |
| title_sort | corporeal routes climbing towards culture |
| topic | Social Antropology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40497 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT goodrichandre corporealroutesclimbingtowardsculture |