Description
Book SynopsisIn Topoi/Graphein Christian Abrahamsson maps the paradoxical limit of the in-between to revealthat to be human is to know how tolive with the difference between the known and the unknown. Using filmic case studies, including CodeInconnu, Lord of the Flies, and Apocalypse Now,and focusing on key concerns developed in the works of the philosophers Deleuze, Olsson, and Wittgenstein, Abrahamsson starts within the notion of fixed spatiality, in whichhuman thought and action are anchored in the given of identity. He then movesthrough a social world in which spatiotemporal transformations are neitherfixed nor taken for granted. Finally he edges into the pure temporality that liesbeyond the maps of fixed points and social relations. Each chapter is organized into two subjects: topoi, orexcerpts from the films, and graphein, the author's interpretation ofpresented theoriesto mirror the displacements,transpositions, juxtapositions, fluctuations, and transformations between delimited categorie
Trade Review"Readers with an interest in spatial theory or cinematic geography should obviously appreciate this work, but so should anyone who wants to understand how a world falls apart and continues to fall apart."—Marcus A. Doel,
Social and Cultural Geography“
Topoi/Graphein poses the most profound philosophical and conceptual questions concerning the human condition from a compelling geographical perspective. A sustained meditation on our engagement with the world, it journeys over remarkably wide-ranging territory, delivering valuable insights with an uncommon intensity of thought. This is a heavyweight work that wears its profundity lightly.”—David B. Clarke, professor of human geography and head of the Department of Geography at Swansea University
“Generations of scholars have identified their respective positions with reference to landmark propositions emanating from singular publications.
Topoi/Graphein holds the promise of becoming such a book for a coming generation. It tackles its subject matter with considerable verve and elegant style.”—Ulf Strohmayer, professor of geography at the National University of Ireland, Galway
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Foreword: Born Again, by Gunnar Olsson
Introduction: Angle of Power
Part 1.
Code inconnu/Crossroads
Chapter 1. Encounter/Point
Chapter 2. Wall/Stone
Chapter 3.
Code inconnu/When Above
Chapter 4. Limits/Oedipus
Chapter 5. Stranger/Terra Firma
Part 2.
Lord of the Flies/Passages
Chapter 6. Desert/Line
Chapter 7. Thing/Swerve
Chapter 8.
Lord of the Flies/Through
Chapter 9. Division/Hermes
Chapter 10. Fire/Terra Nullius
Part 3.
Apocalypse Now/The Event
Chapter 11. Dream/Plane
Chapter 12. River/Cloud
Chapter 13.
Apocalypse Now/In-Between
Chapter 14. Darkness/Janus
Chapter 15. Abyss/Horror Vacui
Part 4. Geographein
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
