Embodying heritage: a biosocial investigation into emotion, memory & historic landscapes

[摘要] This thesis examines the embodied geographies of heritage environments by discussing the various features and qualities of these environments in relation to the body. Emerging from, and contributing to, the increased emphasis on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies in human geography and particularly developments in biosocial theory, this thesis develops an original approach to the study of embodiment within geography. This approach pays attention to the socio-cultural, material-built, remembered, and more-than-human environments that are present in urban conservation areas and the psychophysiological events that occur in this relatedness. In doing so, this thesis pursues two interlinked lines of enquiry: firstly, it develops and critically evaluates a biosocial methodology through the use of biosensing technology within a qualitative mixed-methods approach. In doing so, it discusses the effectiveness of biosensing technology outside of a laboratory setting and for investigating different areas of study in geography. Secondly, and drawing upon the residents’ accounts of the urban conservation areas of Bournville, Moseley and the Jewellery Quarter (Birmingham, UK), the thesis discusses the various features (both in material and imagined worlds) that establish or contribute to an individual’s connection with the urban heritage environments. Combined, these two lines of enquiry create a biosocial account of urban heritage landscapes.

[发布机构] University:University of Birmingham;Department:School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

[关键词] G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation;G Geography (General)