Cultural Geography

Cultural geography studies the spatial dimensions of culture — landscapes, place, identity, and the cultural shaping of environments.

Scope

It covers cultural landscapes, place and identity, the symbolic meaning of space, and the 'new' cultural geography of representation and power.

Core questions

• How does culture shape landscapes and places?
• How are landscapes invested with meaning?
• How do place and identity relate?
• How is space represented and contested culturally?

Key concepts

• Cultural landscape
• Place
• Sense of place
• Symbolic landscape
• Representation
• Identity

Key theories

The cultural landscape

Sauer founded landscape geography, viewing landscapes as shaped by culture acting on nature.

Symbolic landscape

Cosgrove's 'new cultural geography' read landscapes as symbolic representations bound up with power.

History

From Sauer's Berkeley school of landscape geography to the 'new cultural geography' (Cosgrove, Jackson) emphasizing meaning, representation, and power, the field studies the cultural shaping of space.

Debates

Landscape as material form or symbolic text

Whether landscapes are best studied as physical forms or as cultural representations.

Key figures

• Carl Sauer
• Denis Cosgrove

Seminal works

• sauer-1925
• cosgrove-1984

Frequently asked questions

What is a cultural landscape?

A landscape shaped by human culture acting upon the natural environment, a core concept introduced by Sauer.