Peter Jackson's "Problems and alternatives"

1. Jackson mentioned about culturalism and poverty. Is there any culturalist explanation for poverty in Hong Kong?

2. Is the notion of "poverty passing to next generation" in Hong Kong a culturalist theory?

3. What do the two figures (p. 40 and p. 42) illustrate about the approach of cultural materialism?

4. Many western movies about Hong Kong begin with a scene of harbour and boat. Could you use Raymond Williams' "structures of feeling" and Denis Cosgrove's analysis of the evolution of "landscape" to make sense of this cinematic "way of seeing" Hong Kong?

Glossary

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Landscape

有關香港及其他華南城市的衛星圖

我們上一節課（27/1）談過衛星圖，不妨到網上看看，試比較香港與廣州，你便知道我在說甚麼。

綠色的是綠地，紫色是建築物或道路，試比較分佈及比例。

為甚麼這麼接近的兩個城市，其衛星圖的差別會這麼大？

是因為環境因素嗎？還是有別的因素？

吳鄭重＜「菜市場」的日常生活地理學初探＞

1. 為甚麼作者要特別提出「日常生活」？
2. 為甚麼台北地區的傳統市場會式微？但同樣以攤販為主的黃昏市場為甚麼又會興起？
3. 攤商／攤販文化是怎樣的一種「文化」？
4. 作者對市場的理解與教科書經濟學有甚麼不一樣？
5. 台北以至台灣的零售市場發展，與西方有何不同？
6. 為麼會出現市場地景的單調化？
7. 甚麼叫「人性尺度」？
8. 你認為香港的小商舖式微的原因與過程跟台灣有何不同？
9. 你認為香港的攤販是否式微？他們的市場地景又是怎樣？

Some topics for commentaries and journalistic writing

西九龍文娛藝術區爭議

舊區重建

社區貨幣（屯門仁愛堂的「屯」計劃或灣仔的「時分券」計劃）

朗豪坊

伙炭藝術村

Assignment I

Observation Assignment
Purpose -
To get first hand information about a site (a street, a mall, a district, ... ...).
To organize your senses of a place.
To develop the problems and issues that interest you most.

Time-
The time of day you choose will be important. You may need to go back at different times of the day or week to account for important variations in activity or users.

Techniques-
Walk the area at least twice and keep careful notes. At least, describe the mix of people you see, and what they are doing. What evidence do you have about why they are there or what their activities or about whether they are comfortable in the environment?

Look for evidence in the behavior, attitudes, etc. of the people about the issues that you associate with the site.

Physical environment is also important. Describe the storefronts, the housing, the sidewalks or the landscaping with a particular eye to what stands out and what is an area where people gather.

The interaction between people and this environment is significant. How do they relate to it? What is the traffic like and how does it affect the users? Is there any sense of threat, or is the place welcoming? Describe your feeling about this environment.

Observation first and then conduct short inteviews with the users, if possible.

No need to include every detail. Be selective. The point here is to "see" things that have implications for your study. Pay particular attention to anything you find unusual or odd. You may not be able to interpret it right away, but you might have further understanding of it later.

Bring a camera (if you have one) for taking a few snapshots of the environment. Consider making diagrams to illustrate what you notice. Be very selective however, in anything you choose to picture. Any picture should have a purpose. Do not try to map or list everything.

You need to take some field notes. One technique is to use paper which you have divided in half with a vertical line. On one side of the line record your observation as concretely and objectively as possible, without comment or interpretation. (e.g. "most people keep walking" but not "this is a place for commuting rather than encountering") On the other side of the vertical line put your interpretations, guesses and questions which you may need to further investigate. (e.g. "this street might be a transitory area between two landmarks", "Is there a centre attracting people to move forward?")

References
馬國明＜街頭掠影＞《路邊政治經濟學》香港：曙光。

Tuan, Yi-Fu, Spatial experience: Space, place and the Child

Tuan, Yi-Fu. 1977. "Space, place and the Child." Space and Place: The Perspectives of Experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 19-33.

Tuan attempts to explore human's common experience of space and place from the learning process of children. He identifies some key features:

0. Human's spatial perception is something acquired or at least a developed ability.
"He feels, but his sensations are not localized in space. The pain is simply there, and he responds to it with crying; he does not seem to locate it in some specific part of his body." (20)

1. Particularly at the early stage of childhood, children's spatial experience is closely related to all sensations and activity, not exclusively to visual sensory.
The infant uses his hands to explore the tactile and geometrical characteristics of his environment. While the mouth tackles the nipple and acquires the feel of buccal space, the hands move busily over the breast. Long before the infant's eyes can focus on a small object and discern its shape his hands will have grasped it and known its physical properties through touch." (21)

"The work of Piaget and his colleagues have repeatedly shown that sensorimotor intelligence precedes conceptual grasp, sometimes by several years." (25)

2. The development of spatial perception and understanding comes from imagination, not only from direct experience.
"Perhaps one reason why young children can accomplish these feats of extrapolation is that they have played with toys. Although children are midgets in the world of adults, they are giants in their own world of toys. They look at toy houses and trains from a height and command their fates like Olympian gods." (27)

"It is not surprising, however, that a child can enjoy news of distant places, for he leads a rich life of fantasy and is at home in fantasyland before adults require him to dwell imaginatively in the real countries of a geography book." (31)

3. Child becomes attached to persons first, and then to objects and eventually to localities. (29)

4. Later, children develop a sense of property in space, particularly in the western countries or the middle class families.
An example of a kid of migrant family in the United States (33)

陳冠中

陳冠中2004＜香港作為方法＞及＜香港對照記－－台北這個城市的好＞
《文化起義》香港：CUP

1. 陳冠中在＜香港作為方法＞開首說：「香港整個文化發展是應要用『附加』的方法。」，為甚麼他談「文化」，但全文都在談空間？

2. 「 可是香港政府總是要在甚麼地方填一塊地另外開闢一個甚麼中心，這樣做是沒有意思的，因為沒有文化底蘊。」為甚麼香港政府總要這樣做？香港政府有沒有關心文化？

3. 「 擁擠，是所有大城市的基本狀況，...」，為甚麼？

4. 台北給你印象是甚麼？與陳冠中的印象有甚麼不同？

5. 「 現代－－光亮－－花園－－美化－－明日之城」，你能用香港一個例子說明嗎？

6. 陳冠中的「文化」定義是甚麼？「空間」及「城市」又是甚麼？

Michel Foucault's Questions on Geography and Space, Knowledge, and Power

Foucault, Michel. 1980(1976) "Questions on geography." Power/ Knowledge: Selected interviews & other writings 1972-1977. Edited by Colin Gordon. NY: Pantheon.
Foucault, Michel 1994(1982). "Space, Knowledge and Power." In Power: Essential Works of Foucault 1954-1984. Edited by James D. Faubion. NY: The New Press.

Why was Foucault so obssessed with metaphors of space?

What are the implications of "space" for Foucault?

======

What is the importance of architecture to the politics of eighteenth century?

What is the difference between the 18th and 19th century, in terms of the relationship between space and power?

Why isn't there any architecture or space liberating, according to Foucault?

"Sex ... was inscribed in the center of the cities. It was public; it served a purpose... " Could you explain?

文化地理學的源起

1. 文化地理學源起
1.1. 蘇亞（Carl Ortwin Sauer）: 文化主義者（culturalist）

文化地理學的源起，一般追溯至美國二十年代學者蘇亞（Carl Ortwin Sauer），他既受到文化民族主義的影響，亦承接了反對種族中心論（ethno-centrism），反對環境決定論。

1.2. 反種族中心論（Anti-ethnocentrism）、反環境決定論（anti-environmental determinism）及文化相對論（ Cultural relativism）

文化民族主義興起於十九世紀，其中以德國人赫德（Johann Gottfried von Herder） 的文化理論最為重要，他抗拒啟蒙運動中對普遍理性的追求，以及引申的政治理念，而鼓吹以民間文化（folk culture）作為連繫人類群體基礎，群體透過共同的語言、歷史、神話、藝術等等，形成民族身份，並進而由國家（state），使人群與土地環境連結起 來，赫德承襲浪漫主義強調的移情（empathy），而非理性作為人類群體基礎，因此，環境滲透著人的歷史經驗，以至民族文化。

此外，蘇亞也受到受到人類學的影響，人類學擺脫西方中心論的文明層級(hierarchy)，而偏向指出人類群體間的相對文化價值差異（differences），因而發展出文化相對論（cultural relativism）。

故此，地理空間，或地景，不能被視為自然環境所決定，反而，它是由文化所決定，這裡，蘇亞指的文化，多為民族的文明特性，例如石器時代文明，或農業文明，而且，地理空間的發展，並不是直線發展的，而是斷裂的，不是連續的，而是具有差異的分裂。

1.3. 例子: 香港水深港闊？

例 如，有人認為香港之所以具有商業城市地理特質：密集的都市、高速流動、摩天大樓... ...是由於香港水深港闊，有天然屏障，位處大陸邊緣，成為內陸跟遠洋的中樞點等等，這種說法便忽略了香港的殖民歷史文化，或資本主義經濟，對香港地理空 間的塑造，好像香港天生便是商港。

Culture--Time(Factor)-->Natural Landscape(Medium)-->Forms-->Cultural landscapes

2. 批判文化主義（Critique of culturalism）

蘇亞的文化地理學強調文化是一定時間內的人類文明，包括各種信仰、知識、器物、制度等等，人們通過自然地景這個媒介，形成某種人口密度、流動、團聚、溝通的方式，因而形成文化地景。

2.1. 同質還是異質（Homogeneity or heterogeneity）

蘇亞的文化地理學，把文化界定為一個具決定影響力的超有機體（supraorganism），換言之，雖然他強調文化間的差異，但是，他強調文化內部的同質特性（homogeneity），即所謂文化主義（culturalism）。

2.2. 文化是一個超有機體（supra-organism）?

且 不說理論上的問題，相對穩定的超有機體論，其實並不容易處理現代社會生活的多變性，正如馬克思與恩格斯的名言：所有固定的東西都煙消雲散（All that is solid melts into the air）。在各種社會組織及制度都處於急劇的變動下，如何用同質性的有機體理解呢？

2.3. 文化是政治形式（ form of politics）

文 化地理學家要重新處理自己的文化概念，目光不再投向人類學，反而是文化研究，特別英國的地理學家，對他們來說，文化不再是同質體，而是政治的方式 （forms of politics），這裡的政治，既指與權力相關，亦有持續鬥爭或爭辯的特性，或簡言之，爭持（contestation）。

2.4. 例子：香港的摩天大樓

這 裡可以舉一個例子，香港的摩天大樓商業區，以及大部份由填海而形的市中心區域，它們作為一個文化地景，從蘇亞的角度，可以從戰後商業社會文化角度去解釋， 然而，所謂"商業文明"，其實不是超有機體，而是蘊含各種爭持，例如，不少摩天樓透過清拆民居（香港稱作舊區）而成，填海區的出現，往往亦是商業資本繞過 舊區而擴張的方式，早期的填海區出現，也與殖民者擴張的中心區域有關，並避免與華人社區（殖民早期的太平山）混雜，以至干擾新界地區的殖民政策有關。

左圖是灣仔利東街，當地不少小商舖抗議都市重建的賠償方案，一些關心文化人士，亦反對清拆這種代表本土文化的街區；可見，那些摩天商廈背後，其實有各種利益及文化衝突的歷史。






3. 由文化研究到文化地理學

我們就以威廉士（Raymond Williams）作例子，看一下文化研究對「文化」的重新思考，如何開展出空間向度。

3.1. 背景I: 批判精英論

文 化研究的興起，有兩方面背景，第一，是有關英國對文化的精英及國族觀點，十九世紀以來，英國知識精英一直追求一種文化觀念，以拯救被工業／商業文明所威脅 的世界，例如阿諾（Matthew Arnold）對布爾喬亞階級不滿，指其把英國傳統庸俗化，是現代的腓利士人（Philistine），唯利是圖，而英國貴族又無能為力，因此，他期望國 家能扮演教育者的角色，教化人民；這種想法，在二次大戰前後開始成為國家計劃，普及教育，向全民灌輸國家傳統。

3.2. 背景II: 反省階級政治與決定論

第二方面，跟歐洲馬克思主義及工人運動有關，馬克思主義雖然誕生自歐洲，但工人階級運動並沒有帶來革命，相反，二次大戰出現的法西斯，讓人們看到階級以外的政治，例如工業發展，並沒有帶來強大的階級政治力量，反而是具有濃烈文化色彩的納粹政權興起，並得到跨階級的支持。

因 此，經濟作為基礎（base）決定上層建築（supra-structure），即文化與政治的理論，越來越站不住腳，即決定論 （determinism）或機械觀點遭到質疑，而威廉士針對「決定」（determinate）重新思考，他一方面把文化視為「日常」 （ordinary），以至生活的整體方式（a whole way of life），因此，文化不是被某一系統（經濟）所決定。

3.3. 文化作為整體生活方式： 感覺結構（structures of feeling）

威廉士發展「感覺結構」（structures of feeling）來理解文化，即纏繞著各個蘊含感覺的關鍵詞之間的連繫，它與制度（institutions）與實踐（practices）形成歷史性的結構關係。

3.4. 例子: 西九龍文娛藝術區的天幕（ canopy）

例如影響香港城市發展的西九龍文娛藝術區，有一個強制性設施－－巨型天幕，它代表了甚麼階級的利益？資產階級？中產階級？

推動天幕設計最用力的，是政務司曾蔭權，他認為，由著名建築師Norman Foster設計的天幕，會為香港帶來一個文化地標，配合區內的文化藝術設施，因此，天幕反映他自己的美學品味。


這種由上而下的美學觀之所以可能，其實與香港這個威權政府，以及行政主導政府有關，而曾蔭權本身也出自行政主導威權政府的殖民時代。

這種美學品味，又是一種由世界著名建築設計師圈子推動的品味，這顯示在曾蔭權經常提及的「世界級」，所以在規劃這個文化藝術區前，便進入國際競圖，表現出他對全球文化的想像及渴求。

然而，這一切又與特定歷史時空相關，首先，也許跟曾蔭權對政治前途的考慮，他想在下屆特首選舉前完成一項政績；然而，更宏觀地看，這次曾蔭權對「世界」及「全球」的追求，發生在香港經濟衰退之中及之後，香港努力在經濟成長之外，尋求自己的身份形象。

地產商及文化藝術工作者的反應也很有趣，例如地產商配合，但積極挺曾蔭權，而文化藝術工作覺得自己的聲音及文化品味被排在外，這又連繫上香港公眾對政府的感覺。

3.5. 文化作為爭持領域

文化研究強調文化不是獨立的領域，而是生活方式的整體，所以，它是：
－文化的歷史動態；
－文化的空間特性；
－文化中人主動性（agency）的重要。

因此，文化研究嘗試擺脫決定論，而開展出文化作為文化政治－－即爭持（contestation），必然要在一特定空間向度作理解。

4. 小結：文化戰爭

4.1. 文化戰爭：國族主義與階級政治

文化研究及文化地理學的探討，其實都與當代不同時代的「文化戰爭」相關。例如早期文化地理針對（國）民族主義，後來的文化研究則關乎如何超越階級政治的新政治。

4.2. 香港的文化戰爭

香港呢？我想有兩方面值得思考：

a. 文化討論更新：香港在九七年前曾有身份認同熱，努力去辨認自己的身份；但唯經濟發展論，在金融危機後，不易維持，經濟雖有復甦，但大部份人仍進入不安狀況，在中華人民共和國一國之內，開始努力尋求新文化的形象；龍應台文章成為熱門話題可以是這個現象的明證。

b. 城市經濟轉型：香港經濟及城市發生變化，象徵經濟（symbolic economy）及城市文化發展日益耀眼，越來越多相關項目出現；自由行及旅遊業的興旺是一例子。

我想，我們應該抱著這兩個問題去讀《文化起義》，以及這個課程其他材料。

Syllabus

CUS 325C Seminar in Current Cultural Issues: Cultural Geography
Instructor: IP Iam Chong (chong@ln.edu.hk)
Tue 11:30-13:00
Thu 13:30-15:00

Assessement
1. Take-home examination (30%)
2. Online writing (35%)
-Writings (20%): Each student is required to contribute articles (two before the end of March and two before the end of April; about 1,000 words each) to the online magazine (spaceculture.blogspot.com).
-Please learn how to use blog and upload the articles (and photos, if necessary) by yourselves.
-Among the four articles, two are written assignments, one is news reporting on a particular issue or event and one may be a commentary (More guidlines will be provided).You are strongly encouraged to submit more than four articles.
-Late submission is not allowed. Each article carries 5% of total assessment.
-Participation in online discussion (15%): You are required to respond to others' articles and comments. You will lose 15% of the total assessment if you don’t make any comment at all.
3. Presentatioin and discussion (35%)

Schedule

Jan 25
Briefing

Jan 27
I. Theoretical orientations (lecture)

Feb 1
Presentation IA (Introduction)
*陳冠中2004＜香港作為方法＞及＜香港對照記－－台北這個城市的好＞ 《文化起義》香港：CUP
Jackson, Peter. 1989. "Problems and alternatives." Maps of Meaning. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 25-46.

Feb 3
Presentation IB (Redefining "space")
Foucault, Michel. 1980(1976) "Questions on geography." Power/ Knowledge: Selected interviews & other writings 1972-1977. Edited by Colin Gordon. NY: Pantheon.
*Foucault, Michel 1994(1982). "Space, Knowledge and Power." In Power: Essential Works of Foucault 1954-1984. Edited by James D. Faubion. NY: The New Press.

Feb 15
II. Experience, part I (lecture)

Feb 17
Experiment in campus and discussion

Feb 22
Presentation IIA (Home)
Korosec-Serfaty, Perla and Dominique Bolitt. 1986. "Dwelling and the experience of burglary." Journal of Environmental Psychology. 6, 329-344.
*畢恒達2004＜先生不在家，我才有在家的感覺＞、＜設計分性別？＞《空間就是性別》台北：心靈工坊，84-119; 180-214。

Mar 1
Presentation IIB (Senses of place)
*Tuan, Yi-Fu. 1977. "Space, place and the Child." Space and Place: The Perspectives of Experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 19-33.
Lynch, Kevin. 1991(1976). Managing the sense of a region. Cambridge: The MIT Press, p. 1-38.

Mar 3
Presentation IIC (Experience in public and commercial space)
Jackson, Peter. 1998. "Domesticating the street: the contested spaces of the high street and the mall." Images of the street: planning, identity and control in public space. London and New York: Routledge.
*Lui, Tai-lok. 2001. “The Malling of Hong Kong.” Consuming Hong Kong. Edited by Gordon Mathews and T. L. Lui. Hong Kong: Hong Kong UP.

Mar 8
II. Experience, part II (lecture)

Supplementary readings
黃國鉅＜港人走出來的街巷＞《明報》2004.12.5
俞若玫＜我們沒有了自己！——馬國明的行街政治＞《明報》2004.11.25
葉蔭聰＜虎地：凌空拔起的慾望＞2004.11.19　In-media
(同學習作)黃拱章, 嚴美欣, 嚴詩敏＜六四吧短片導讀＞2004.12.2
周思雅＜灣仔口述：商舖篇＞2004.10.28


Mar 10
III. Representation, part I (lecture)


Mar 15
Presentation IIIA (Experience and represenation)
*Benjamin, Walter. “Paris, capital of the nineteenth century.” Reflections. NY: Schocken Books, 1978, 146-62.
Sennet, Richard. 1994. "Body and City." and "Nakedness: The Citizen's Body in Perikles' Athens." Flesh and Stone: the Body and the City in Western Civilization. New York: W. W. Norton, 14-67.(中譯)


Mar 17
Presentation IIIB (Urban landscape)
*Twombly, Robert. 1995. "The Social Transformation of Modernism, 1922-1940." (51-71), "Hegemonic Modernism, 1940-1970s." (72-88) In Power and Style: A Critique of Twentieth Century Architecture in the United States. New York: Hill and Wang.
Kostof, Spiro. 1991. "The Grand Manner." The City Shaped: Urban patterns and meanings through history. Boston: A Bulfinch Press Book, 209-277.

Mar 29
III. Representation, part II (lecture)

Mar 31
IV. Lived Relation, part I (lecture)

Apr 7
Presentation IVA (Everyday life)
*吳鄭重2004＜「菜市場」的日常生活地理學初探：全球化台北與市場多樣性的生活城市省思＞《台灣社會研究季刊》第五十五期2004年9月，頁47-99。
Hannigan, John. 1998. ""At prices all can afford": The "golden age" of popular urban entertainment in America." London and New York: Routledge, pp. 15-30.

Apr 12
Presentation IVB (Public space)
*Zukin, Sharon. 1995. "Whose Culture? Whose City?" In The Cultures of Cities. NY and London: Blackwell, 1-48.
魯道夫．迪．瓊（Rudolf de Jong）1995(1986)＜再次俘獲街道？＞《空間與社會理論譯文選之一》台北：台大城鄉所。

Apr 14
Presentatiion IVC (Spatial tactics)
Borden, Iain, Joe Kerr, Jane Rendell and Aicia Pivaro. 2002. "Things, Flows, Filters, Tactics." The Unknown City. Cambridge and London: MIT Press, pp. 2-28.
*Borden, Iain. 1998. ＜滑板玩家：當代城市中又激進又反叛的市民＞《城市與設計》第七、八期，頁25-44。

Apr 19
IV. Lived Relation, part II (lecture)

Apr 21
Social Relations (lecture)

Apr 26 (Modernity)
*David Harvey. 1989. "14. Time and space as sources of social power.", "15. The time and space of the Enlightenment project." In The Condition of Postmodernity. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 226-259.
Massey, Doreen. ＜政治與空間／時間＞《空間與社會理論譯文選》王志弘編，台北，頁115-142。

Apr 28 (Counter-spaces)
Foucault, Michel. 1967. "Of Other Spaces."
*黃孫權2000＜重回街道：一個瑞舞文化與搖頭丸政治之空間觀察＞

May 3 (Global culture)
*阿佩杜懷（Arjun Appadurai）＜全球文化經濟中的斷裂及差異＞《身份認同與公共文化：文化研究論文集》陳清僑編，香港：牛津大學出版社，65-82。
Kahn, Joel. 1995. "A World System of Culture?" Culture, Multiculture, Postculture. London: Sage, pp.124-156.

May 5
Conclusion (lecture)

* Required Reading

References
Urban Design Skills: Observing, Interpreting and Representing the City
Cultural Geography (culturalgeography.blogspot.com)
Johnston, R. J., Derek Gregory, Geraldine Pratt and Michael Watts. 2000. The Dictionary of Human Geography, 4th Edition. Malden Blackwell.