Through the undertaking of this assignment there were a few problems which needed to be tackled. One of the issues was to decide on a way which would clearly represent how the geographies have been represented in a clear and concise manner. This was achieved through the creation of a web page where there were some difficulties such the layout and learning how to create the page. This was tackled by looking at how different functions of designing the page work as well learn how to upload relevant material through the online guide. Another issue was trying to find relevant resources to support how the geographies have been represented and this was achieved by reading the relevant chapters in Blunt, et.al (2003) by understanding how to undertake an evaluation of the geographies within the text of the novel and how to support the geographies through relevant academic texts. This was also achieved by over viewing previous lectures and looking at recommended reference in order to support how the geographies are being represented in the novel. There is also the issue of how to represent the text through images so the choice of downloading images of the real spaces which have been represented in the novel in order to gain a true representation of the world which is being represented in the novel.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Introduction
This is a work of fiction by Michael Crichton, (2004). Crichton (2004) explains that “Environmentalists have used media manipulation and scare tactics as part of a global warming sales campaign to raise money and acquire political influence” (p. 245). Crichton explains that Environmentalists use funding to create political agendas and to support themselves as political businesses and not really focusing on how to tackle environmental issues. (Beckerman, 1996; Goklany, 2001; Kaufman, 1994; Litcher & Rothman, 1999).
Kneale (2003) explains that all works of fiction create fictional places, they are representations of reality. Barnes & Duncan (1992) states, that representations of the world are non- mimetic, they are not a reflection of reality but they do represent elements of the world. Instead of viewing texts and images as being detached from the discourse and power relations, but that text and images are inseparable from the exercise of power (Kneale, 2003). Cosgrove & Daniels (1988) explain that there is a wide range of representations of the real world through works of art, paintings photos, literary works and so on, they are interpretations of space or place and these interpretations can also help to shape how spaces and places can be interpreted and how people act within these spaces and places (Da Costa, 2003). However, Brousseau (1994) explains that interpretations of fictional novels have been conducted very poorly due to the failures of the examination of how a novel creates its own geographies. There are three areas of consideration which have to be undertaken in order to understand the geographies created in the novel. Firstly the description of place, space or landscapes which are objective representations of the world, Secondly texts don’t contain objective facts, but where a subjective experience within a certain place can be retrieved through the text. Finally a textual landscape can be expressed through a certain powerful cultural ideology (Brousseau, 1994).
The importance of understanding the geography is to understand the narrative of the book, we cannot as Thrift, (1978) refers to as stamp collecting select parts of the narrative as they may be part of a flashback or part of strict chronological order which can confuse our understanding of the text within the narrative. The method of hermeneutics can will be used to interpret the text because the basis of the method is on the interpretations of the text itself and not that of external factors (Pickles, 1992) This report will look at the representations of the city as well as how the author has represented different spaces and places throughout the novel.
Kneale (2003) explains that all works of fiction create fictional places, they are representations of reality. Barnes & Duncan (1992) states, that representations of the world are non- mimetic, they are not a reflection of reality but they do represent elements of the world. Instead of viewing texts and images as being detached from the discourse and power relations, but that text and images are inseparable from the exercise of power (Kneale, 2003). Cosgrove & Daniels (1988) explain that there is a wide range of representations of the real world through works of art, paintings photos, literary works and so on, they are interpretations of space or place and these interpretations can also help to shape how spaces and places can be interpreted and how people act within these spaces and places (Da Costa, 2003). However, Brousseau (1994) explains that interpretations of fictional novels have been conducted very poorly due to the failures of the examination of how a novel creates its own geographies. There are three areas of consideration which have to be undertaken in order to understand the geographies created in the novel. Firstly the description of place, space or landscapes which are objective representations of the world, Secondly texts don’t contain objective facts, but where a subjective experience within a certain place can be retrieved through the text. Finally a textual landscape can be expressed through a certain powerful cultural ideology (Brousseau, 1994).
The importance of understanding the geography is to understand the narrative of the book, we cannot as Thrift, (1978) refers to as stamp collecting select parts of the narrative as they may be part of a flashback or part of strict chronological order which can confuse our understanding of the text within the narrative. The method of hermeneutics can will be used to interpret the text because the basis of the method is on the interpretations of the text itself and not that of external factors (Pickles, 1992) This report will look at the representations of the city as well as how the author has represented different spaces and places throughout the novel.
Notre Dame
Crichton (2004) is giving a detailed description of space and place within the facinity of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the interaction of people within this place and the playing out of street culture. He creates a romanticism of the place by emphasising the beauty of the cathedral and street culture. It tries to recreate the beauty of the architectural prowess of Notre Dame and the romance of Paris.
“Her apartment was just across the river from Notre Dame, and from the balcony in the bedroom he had a beautiful view of the cathedral, which was lightened at night. But there was still a deep blue in the sky. He looked down at the street below, the lights of the cafes, the crowds walking on the streets. It was busy and glamorous scene" (p11)
“Her apartment was just across the river from Notre Dame, and from the balcony in the bedroom he had a beautiful view of the cathedral, which was lightened at night. But there was still a deep blue in the sky. He looked down at the street below, the lights of the cafes, the crowds walking on the streets. It was busy and glamorous scene" (p11)
Los Angeles
Crichton is trying to use a kinetic description where there is the movement of a character and represents the experience of the character within space and creates as Crang (1998) explains that you feel like you are walking on the sidewalk and not watching some else do so. There is the description of senses and encountering of random information, gives an impression of what real people encounter as they walk through an urban landscape (Kneale, 2003). Brousseau (1994) explains that this constant movement in the text is due to the list of one thing after another or sensory impressions.
Crichton also gives the description of George Morton’s property in Holmby Hills which gives you the impression that the property is based within a gated community of the suburbs of Los Angeles. This representation conforms to what Dear and Flusty (2002) state as privatopia which has provoked a culture of non-participation, and the creation of a dystopia as well as the creation of a fortified city where there is the Californians obsession with security. Pain et.al (2001) states that these gated communities are formed through the fear of crime and to exclude undesirables. This can lead to a segregated society and create what Dear & Flusty (2002) explain as a dystopia. Crichton (2004) also represents the city as a congested city, a de-centralised city where the car is dominant. This represents what Dear & Flusty (2002) argue about Los Angeles of being made up of edge cities (peripheral cities) where they intersect urban beltways and hub and spoke lateral roads. Los Angeles can be argued as being a de-centralised city making the car the dominant mode of transport.
“She stepped off the curb, and walked along the street; hanging at the edge of the crowd.....Sarah got the alley entrance, and paused. There were garbage bags stacked at intervals. She could smell the rotten odour from where she was. A big delivery truck blocked the far end of the alley” (pp 323 – 324)
“The iron gates swung open, and the car drove up the shaded driveway to the house that slowly came into view. This was Holmby Hills, the wealthiest area of Beverley Hills. The billionaires lived here, in residence hidden from the street by high gates and dense foliage. In this part of town, security cameras are all painted green, and tucked back unobtrusively. The house came into view. It was a Mediterranean-style villa, cream coloured, and large enough for a family of ten... birds chirped in the ficus trees, the air smelled of the gardenia and jasmine that bordered the drive way. (p 68)
“Evans merged his hybrid car onto to the San Diego freeway, twelve lanes of roaring traffic on an expanse of concrete as wide as half a football field. Sixty five percent of the surface area of Los Angeles was devoted to cars....Everything was so far apart, you couldn’t walk anywhere, the pollution was incredible.” (p 312)
Crichton also gives the description of George Morton’s property in Holmby Hills which gives you the impression that the property is based within a gated community of the suburbs of Los Angeles. This representation conforms to what Dear and Flusty (2002) state as privatopia which has provoked a culture of non-participation, and the creation of a dystopia as well as the creation of a fortified city where there is the Californians obsession with security. Pain et.al (2001) states that these gated communities are formed through the fear of crime and to exclude undesirables. This can lead to a segregated society and create what Dear & Flusty (2002) explain as a dystopia. Crichton (2004) also represents the city as a congested city, a de-centralised city where the car is dominant. This represents what Dear & Flusty (2002) argue about Los Angeles of being made up of edge cities (peripheral cities) where they intersect urban beltways and hub and spoke lateral roads. Los Angeles can be argued as being a de-centralised city making the car the dominant mode of transport.
“She stepped off the curb, and walked along the street; hanging at the edge of the crowd.....Sarah got the alley entrance, and paused. There were garbage bags stacked at intervals. She could smell the rotten odour from where she was. A big delivery truck blocked the far end of the alley” (pp 323 – 324)
“The iron gates swung open, and the car drove up the shaded driveway to the house that slowly came into view. This was Holmby Hills, the wealthiest area of Beverley Hills. The billionaires lived here, in residence hidden from the street by high gates and dense foliage. In this part of town, security cameras are all painted green, and tucked back unobtrusively. The house came into view. It was a Mediterranean-style villa, cream coloured, and large enough for a family of ten... birds chirped in the ficus trees, the air smelled of the gardenia and jasmine that bordered the drive way. (p 68)
“Evans merged his hybrid car onto to the San Diego freeway, twelve lanes of roaring traffic on an expanse of concrete as wide as half a football field. Sixty five percent of the surface area of Los Angeles was devoted to cars....Everything was so far apart, you couldn’t walk anywhere, the pollution was incredible.” (p 312)
Antartica
Crichton (2004) here has created a geographical representation of the mass expanse of the continent of Antarctica. There is this movement through temporal space and you get the feel of ‘through the looking glass’ from the aircraft at this great expanse of ice and snow with a low lying sun in the horizon. Crichton (2004) has manifested a landscape of mystery as this landscape is not fully understood by humans and there are a limited number of people who inhabit this huge continent of ice and snow. This creates a non-mimetic representation of the world; the use of fog creates a barrier of fully understanding the frozen world. Jackson (1981) explains that the ‘topography of the modern fantastic’ which is created through problems of vision or ambiguity is represented in this instance with the use of fog.
“Evans stared out the narrow window of the Hercules....he was fascinated by what he saw beneath him- mile after mile of gray ice, broken by intermittent fog, and the occasional outcrop of black rock. It was monochromatic, sunless world. And it was huge.....’Its a big continent, one and half times the size of either Europe or the United States, and it holds ninety percent of all the ice on the planet’” (p227)
“Evans stared out the narrow window of the Hercules....he was fascinated by what he saw beneath him- mile after mile of gray ice, broken by intermittent fog, and the occasional outcrop of black rock. It was monochromatic, sunless world. And it was huge.....’Its a big continent, one and half times the size of either Europe or the United States, and it holds ninety percent of all the ice on the planet’” (p227)
Auroraville (Ghost Town)
This part of the novel, Crichton, (2004) has created a detailed description of the buildings of the town within space. Here the space is created statically from the view of the character and how they interact within this space. The space created seems to be empty of life, it has no character or charm, it creates a fantastic narrative where the story starts evolve and the characters are lost within this lifeless and empty environment, but must get out in order to stop the lightning storm. It is an unordered space which is distopic and unpleasant.
“Sarah saw the roofs of wooden buildings bleached by the sun. It took her a moment to realise that this was a ghost town....and now she saw a porch, a dilapidated building, and swinging from the roof a sign bleached so gray she couldn’t see what it said....the rain was coming down harder, big splattering drops that struck her back and shoulders as she ran to the next building. It had a chimney, and generally looked better built. But the windows were the same, broken and thickly coated with dust and grime.” (pp 388 – 390)
“Sarah saw the roofs of wooden buildings bleached by the sun. It took her a moment to realise that this was a ghost town....and now she saw a porch, a dilapidated building, and swinging from the roof a sign bleached so gray she couldn’t see what it said....the rain was coming down harder, big splattering drops that struck her back and shoulders as she ran to the next building. It had a chimney, and generally looked better built. But the windows were the same, broken and thickly coated with dust and grime.” (pp 388 – 390)
Flash flood in Mc Kinley State Park
Crichton (2004) introduced earlier the calmness of the Cavendor River (p 377) and now it has become a raging torrent due to the storm. In this instance the characters are involved in a mobile and treacherous space which they need to escape from as they are trapped in the SUV. The author has tried to represent a relationship between humans and nature and there is a particular environmental message trying to be portrayed. Curry (1998) argues that the re-enactment of nature is taking place in contemporary society which is manifested in popular culture texts. So texts such as Crichton who re-enact nature has been manifested through contemporary society such as the media.
“ They were in the middle of a rushing river, Muddy brown and moving fast, standing waves of churning water....there were rapids, big boulders, sink holes...Trooper Rodriguez saw the SUV bouncing and spinning down the river....ahead he saw an overpass, a roadway held up with big concrete stanchions. Each stanchion had caught debris floating downriver; the pylons were now wrapped with a tangled mat of tree branches, burned trunks, old boards and floating junk” (pp 415 – 416)
The State of Fear
Crichton (2004) throughout the novel has tried to explain how environmental groups and the mass media have created this state of fear. It works on the principle of “realities of truth”, where journalists use power knowledge constructions and where journalistic knowledge which is linked to power has the authority to speak a given truth, at least in terms of effect (Foucault, 1980), this is created through the discourse of global warming. The text shows that the mass media and the government have used this state of fear to control the public, if one fear is lost in this case the collapse of the Soviet Union then a new is needed to continue control over the general public, in this case the fear of global warming. The creation of a looming disaster has led to a force of new controls such as green taxes and new governmental policies, the media will use scare stories as a way to captivate their audience.
“If you study the media...you discover something extremely interesting....There was a major shift in the fall of 1989. Before that, the media did not make excessive use of terms such as crisis, catastrophe, cataclysm, plague or disaster... but then it all changed, These terms started to become more and more common. The word catastrophe was used five times more often in 1995 than it was in 1985. Its doubled again by the year 2000. And the stories changed too. There was a heightened emphasis of fear, worry, danger, uncertainty.... 1989 seemed like a normal year: a Soviet sub sank in Norway; Tiananmen Square in China....a San Francisco earthquake flattened highways.... rise in the term crisis can be located with some precision in the autumn of 1989. And it seemed suspicious that it should coincide so closely with the fall of the Berlin Wall....The Berlin wall marks the collapse of the Soviet empire. And the end of the cold war that lasted for a half a century.....for fifty years, Western nations had maintained their citizens in a state of perpetual fear...The Communist Menace...politicians need fear to control the population...The media need scare stories to capture the audience”. (p 537 – 542)
Gareda Island, Solomon Island Chain
Contemporary village on the island of Gareda is a representation of villages in the Solomon Islands; here Crichton has created conflicting ideas of village life. One of the characters sees the beauty of village life, and the expression of culture and community spirit as well being located in the heart of nature. The other character sees poverty, disease, famine. Terrell, (1977) in his paper discusses the distribution of villages of some of the islands in the Solomon’s; the population distribution is affected by the geographical formation of the islands where most are volcanic, mountainous and covered forest which Crichton, (2004) has represented in this section of the novel.
Terrell (1977) explains how close the people are to the land through local plots for agriculture and use of local materials to construct the small hamlets and villages in the Solomon’s. The villages are considered as a cultural unit due to the large variation in culture and linguistics between villages, and this is what Crichton has represented in the view of one of the characters. The use of media material has helped to create a different representation of the contemporary village in the Solomon Islands; there are reports of disease such as Malaria, disease and famine. National governments have also warned tourists about visiting the Solomon Islands due to the risks of civil unrest, risk of certain diseases as well as natural disasters and severe weather (Australian Government, 2007). Through these different resources a geographical representation of contemporary village life can be re-defined which is what is seen by the other character. This creates conflicting geographical views of the village and this is based on a person’s individualistic interpretation of village life, and this creates the basis of humanistic interpretations of what village life is like in the Solomon’s.
“Isn’t it gorgeous, he said, Look at the water. Crystalline and pure. Look at the depth of that blue, Look at those beautiful villages in the heart of nature...Don’t you think, Bradley said, that its the white man, who wants to conquer nature, to beat it into submission....I find that people who live closer to the earth, in their villages, surrounded by nature, that those people have a natural ecological sense and a feeling for the fitness of it all....the villages were clustered of corrugated tin shacks,, the roads red mud ruts. The people look poorly dressed and moved slowly. There was a depressing, disconsolate feeling about them” (p 595 - 596)
"the jungle slid beneath them, mile after mile of dense forest. In places, wisps of mist clung to the trees, particularly at the higher altitudes. Sarah was surprised at how mountainous the island was, how rugged the terrain" (p607)
Terrell (1977) explains how close the people are to the land through local plots for agriculture and use of local materials to construct the small hamlets and villages in the Solomon’s. The villages are considered as a cultural unit due to the large variation in culture and linguistics between villages, and this is what Crichton has represented in the view of one of the characters. The use of media material has helped to create a different representation of the contemporary village in the Solomon Islands; there are reports of disease such as Malaria, disease and famine. National governments have also warned tourists about visiting the Solomon Islands due to the risks of civil unrest, risk of certain diseases as well as natural disasters and severe weather (Australian Government, 2007). Through these different resources a geographical representation of contemporary village life can be re-defined which is what is seen by the other character. This creates conflicting geographical views of the village and this is based on a person’s individualistic interpretation of village life, and this creates the basis of humanistic interpretations of what village life is like in the Solomon’s.
“Isn’t it gorgeous, he said, Look at the water. Crystalline and pure. Look at the depth of that blue, Look at those beautiful villages in the heart of nature...Don’t you think, Bradley said, that its the white man, who wants to conquer nature, to beat it into submission....I find that people who live closer to the earth, in their villages, surrounded by nature, that those people have a natural ecological sense and a feeling for the fitness of it all....the villages were clustered of corrugated tin shacks,, the roads red mud ruts. The people look poorly dressed and moved slowly. There was a depressing, disconsolate feeling about them” (p 595 - 596)
"the jungle slid beneath them, mile after mile of dense forest. In places, wisps of mist clung to the trees, particularly at the higher altitudes. Sarah was surprised at how mountainous the island was, how rugged the terrain" (p607)
Conclusions
My main conclusion is how The State of Fear creates a new understanding on the context of global warming and how the media create fear to capture an audience, the story helps to create a new understanding and knowledge of the represented primary world. The text helps the reader grasp the idea that global warming is only a theory and not a speculative truth, and that we truly do not completely understand whether global warming is occurring in the way that it has been speculated. The novel represents Los Angeles as being a segregated city with gated communities, security surveillance, periphery cities which creates a de-centralised city making the car the dominant mode of transport.
The story also uses different cultures and the interaction of people in different spaces and places through static representations and kinetic description with the use of senses and movement through temporal space. The geographies of different spaces and places have been truly represented within the novel from the real world, and the author suggests that we know very little about the world that we live in and the natural environment which are a part of. The novel also expresses the power of media and the government as a form of social control, by promoting fear and how NGOs such as environmental groups use fear as a means to promote policies and to stimulate funding.
The story also uses different cultures and the interaction of people in different spaces and places through static representations and kinetic description with the use of senses and movement through temporal space. The geographies of different spaces and places have been truly represented within the novel from the real world, and the author suggests that we know very little about the world that we live in and the natural environment which are a part of. The novel also expresses the power of media and the government as a form of social control, by promoting fear and how NGOs such as environmental groups use fear as a means to promote policies and to stimulate funding.
References
Australian Government, 2007, Travel advice to the Solomon Islands, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Solomon_Islands
Site accessed: 18/01/2007
Barnes, T., & Duncan, J., 1992, Writing worlds: Discourse, Text and Metaphor in the representation of Landscape, Routledge, London
Beckerman, W., 1996, Through Green-coloured glasses: Environmentalists reconsidered. Cato Institute, Washington DC
Brousseau, M., 1994, Geography’s literature, Progress in Human Geography, 18 (3), 333 – 353
Cosgrove, D. & Daniels, S., 1988, The iconography of landscape, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Crichton, M., 2004, State of Fear, Harper Collin Publishers, London
Curry, P., 1998, Defending Middle Earth, Myth and modernity, Harper Collins, London
Da Costa, M. H. B. V., 2000, Cities in motion: Towards an understanding of the Cinematic City, Chpt 12, Blunt, A., Gruffudd, P., May, J., Ogborn, M. & Pinder, 2003, Cultural Geography in Practice, Arnold publishers, New York
Dear, M.J. & Flusty, Postmodern Urbanism, Chptr 21, Dear, M.J. & Flusty, 2002, The spaces of postmodernity: readings in human geography, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, Oxford.
Foucault, M, 1980, Power / Knowledge, Pantheon, New York
Goklany, I.M., 2001, The precautionary principle: A critical appraisal of environmental risk assessment, Cato Institute, Washington DC
Jackson, R., 1981, Fantasy: The literature of subversion, Routledge, London
Kaufman, W., 1994, No turning back: Dismantling the fantasies of environmental thinking, Basic Books, New York
Kneale, J., Secondary Worlds: Reading novels as geographical research, Chpt 3, Blunt, A., Gruffudd, P., May, J., Ogborn, M. & Pinder, 2003, Cultural Geography in Practice, Arnold publishers, New York
Lichter, S.R. & Rothman, S., 1999, Environmental Cancer, a political disease, Yale University Press, London
Pain, R., Barke, M., Fuller, D., Gough, J., MacFarlane, R. & Mowl, G., 2001, Introducing social geographies, Arnold publishers, London
Pickles, J., 1992, Text, hermeneutics and propaganda maps. In Barnes, T. & Duncan J, Writing worlds: Discourse, Text and metaphor in the representation of landscape, Routledge, London
Terrell, J., 1977, Geographic systems and Human diversity on the Solomon’s, World Archaeology, (9) 1, Island Archaeology, p 62 - 81
Thrift, N., 1978, landscape and literature, Environment and Planning A, 10, 347 – 349
http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Solomon_Islands
Site accessed: 18/01/2007
Barnes, T., & Duncan, J., 1992, Writing worlds: Discourse, Text and Metaphor in the representation of Landscape, Routledge, London
Beckerman, W., 1996, Through Green-coloured glasses: Environmentalists reconsidered. Cato Institute, Washington DC
Brousseau, M., 1994, Geography’s literature, Progress in Human Geography, 18 (3), 333 – 353
Cosgrove, D. & Daniels, S., 1988, The iconography of landscape, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Crichton, M., 2004, State of Fear, Harper Collin Publishers, London
Curry, P., 1998, Defending Middle Earth, Myth and modernity, Harper Collins, London
Da Costa, M. H. B. V., 2000, Cities in motion: Towards an understanding of the Cinematic City, Chpt 12, Blunt, A., Gruffudd, P., May, J., Ogborn, M. & Pinder, 2003, Cultural Geography in Practice, Arnold publishers, New York
Dear, M.J. & Flusty, Postmodern Urbanism, Chptr 21, Dear, M.J. & Flusty, 2002, The spaces of postmodernity: readings in human geography, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, Oxford.
Foucault, M, 1980, Power / Knowledge, Pantheon, New York
Goklany, I.M., 2001, The precautionary principle: A critical appraisal of environmental risk assessment, Cato Institute, Washington DC
Jackson, R., 1981, Fantasy: The literature of subversion, Routledge, London
Kaufman, W., 1994, No turning back: Dismantling the fantasies of environmental thinking, Basic Books, New York
Kneale, J., Secondary Worlds: Reading novels as geographical research, Chpt 3, Blunt, A., Gruffudd, P., May, J., Ogborn, M. & Pinder, 2003, Cultural Geography in Practice, Arnold publishers, New York
Lichter, S.R. & Rothman, S., 1999, Environmental Cancer, a political disease, Yale University Press, London
Pain, R., Barke, M., Fuller, D., Gough, J., MacFarlane, R. & Mowl, G., 2001, Introducing social geographies, Arnold publishers, London
Pickles, J., 1992, Text, hermeneutics and propaganda maps. In Barnes, T. & Duncan J, Writing worlds: Discourse, Text and metaphor in the representation of landscape, Routledge, London
Terrell, J., 1977, Geographic systems and Human diversity on the Solomon’s, World Archaeology, (9) 1, Island Archaeology, p 62 - 81
Thrift, N., 1978, landscape and literature, Environment and Planning A, 10, 347 – 349
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