Changing Languages

 Travis Marsden

GEOG 101

Feb. 15, 2021

Response Paper 5

Changing Language

This week we read “How To Tame A Wild Tongue” written by Gloria Anzaldua’s. This story was about her own experiences growing up in America whose main language is Spanish. It was hard growing up. Always getting in trouble for speaking her first language and getting teased for her accent by the other kids when she did speak English. It was more like being bullied rather than teased and for something that was uncontrollable. 

Not only was she looked down upon by English speakers but also other people who spoke Spanish. Apparently the Spanish she spoke, which is Chicano Spanish, Is a different variation from traditional Spanish. There are actually multiple variations and all are considered inferior by traditional speakers. Couple examples of these variants are called Tex Mex and Spanglish. These languages that are considered inferior have evolved from original Spanish. If we look back on history, languages are constantly changing. So just because a language is changing doesn’t mean that it should be considered less than. Also, no one should be punished for speaking their first language. 

The Power of Language

 Madison Blackburn

Geography 101

I thought that this week’s reading was interesting. The reading was by Gloria Anzaldua and was called, How to Tame a Wild Tongue. This told the story about Gloria Anzaldua's experience and struggles with language. She was Mexican but was living in America, but she still spoke Spanish often and sometimes she would speak English, but would have an accent. She was always punished for this and was told to go to Mexico or to never speak Spanish. She would get in trouble on the playground for speaking Spanish. This had to have been incredibly hard for her. That is like telling for most of us where English is our main language, and then all of the sudden we can only speak French. It would be very difficult to transition at first, and you are going to still try to speak English out of habit, but you shouldn’t be punished for it. This reading was a very good example of how some cultures have their expectations and don’t want any mixing of cultures. They aren’t able to adapt to change very well and don’t know how to act on it properly. It is terrible that as a country, people are treated so badly and can’t feel included just because they are also speaking a different language or the same language but have an accent. 

Living Tongue

    The language that a person speaks and thinks in creates not only the social environment in which they exist but their entire metaphysical existence. Taking this idea into consideration when discussing the cultural overlap that occurs in situations of colonization, it becomes clear how imperative it is for the new dominant culture to squash existing languages in that area. For the new dominant culture to exist uncontested and unquestioned, the domination language must be absolute. The same holds true in situations of cultural movement through immigration, where individuals of separate cultural/lingual backgrounds are move to areas of an oppressive dominant culture. 

In Gloria Anzaldua’s Essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Anzaldua describes her experiences as a Chicano woman growing up in the American southwest. Anzaldua examines the forms of cultural pressure applied to her and other Chicanos, especially women, by both Spanish speaking cultures and English-speaking cultures. She explains the internalization of oppression that undermines her sense of identity, and the separation from her cultural language it created. 

I found this piece to be both effective and moving. The way Anzaldua talks about her languages, the connections that tie her to the varying aspects of her life, the cultural influences she experienced through media. She talks about her language as a living thing, something far more alive that Standard English or Standard Spanish. 

Identity in Language

 Response Paper

Alice Williams

GEOG101

Identity in Language

Gloria Anzaldua’s essay "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" showcases her experience and struggles with language as she was split between Mexican and American cultures, where a Mexican-American didn’t fit in. Living in America, and often scolded or ridiculed for speaking Spanish or with a Spanish accent, Anzaldua explains the experience she had growing up in a society where her language was not accepted. Not only was Spanish not accepted in America, but the variation of Spanish she spoke, Chicano Spanish, was looked down upon by traditional Spanish speakers as well. Anzaldua describes how her language, and others like Spanglish and Tex-Mex, had evolved from Spanish, and developed naturally over time under Anglo influence. Anzaldua describes cultural conflict around her language, stating that Mexican Spanish speakers accused Chicanos of speaking incorrect Spanish, but Anzaldua states, “Chicano Spanish is a border tongue which developed naturally...it is not incorrect, it is a living language” (37). 

Anzaldua also describes the Chicano culture and how being in between Mexican and American cultures caused a struggle to find identity, as there wasn’t language representation, it made it difficult to identify to others. When referring to sense of not fitting in, Anzaldua states, “Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity - I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language I cannot take pride in myself” (40).  Anzaldua shares her excitement when finding a published Chicano written book and Tex-Mex poetry, as she had never seen those before, and how thrilled she was. Often feeling like an outcast, torn between two cultures, Anzaldua was ecstatic to feel a sense of belonging in those readings. As she became an educator later on, she made a point to incorporate Chicano literature into her lessons despite being told to only teach “American” literature. Anzaldua outlines really well the need for language acceptance and representation, and how language is key in connection to culture, identity and sense of belonging. 

I found it really interesting how her mother even scolded her for speaking English with a Spanish accent. My great-grandparents came to America from Norway when they were young adults. My mom always told me they rarely spoke Norwegian, other than the occasional phrase and did not teach it to their children. She said they felt since they were in America now, they had to speak English to be “American”. On another language note, my husband is Hungarian, he and his family all speak Hungarian to one another, but he had no interest in teaching it to our children, despite my efforts to convince him. Hungarian was my husband’s first language, as with the majority of his family members, and connects all the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, many of whom do not speak English or do not speak it well. What a great opportunity it could be, for our kids to be able to connect and identify with their Hungarian family through language.

The Importance of Language

 Jennifer Spatz

2/16/2021

Response Paper

Taming a Wild Tongue

In the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, the war on native language and accents are described in painful and personal detail as Anzaldu recalls moments from her life in which she was faced with punishment or negative treatment from others about her speech. Anzaldua's life was filled with opinions and criticisms that each held the agenda of silencing her language, background, and individualism. She writes about being Mexican, speaking Spanish, and growing up in America where she was forced to speak English with no accent. She got punished for speaking Spanish at recess at a young age, she was told by her teachers to “go back where she came from” after correcting her on how to properly pronounce her name, and she was continuously corrected and reminded by her mother to speak “English like a Mexican. 

“Wild tongues cannot be tamed, they can only be cut out.” (36). Anzaldua carries pride in her language and she shows this throughout the essay by explaining the natural talent that comes with speaking the language, and those that develop over time. For example, she explains that Chicano Spanish, when spoken for a long period of time, allows for the tongue to develop borders naturally. She speaks of the complexities behind the chosen words that differentiate gender and how these aren't taught in the outside world. She shares her experience of when she first heard women speaking in public using the same words with different letters, producing sounds that show gender in conversation and she says that she was shocked and unaware. “So, if you really want to hurt me, talk badly about my language.” (40). Anzaldua explains that her language describes a culture, can describe identities, and reality, and values. Natural, native language matters because it's a vital part of who she is, who we all are.

Attack on Language

   Serena Becker

Geography 101

Feb 16, 2021

Attack on Language  

  In "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" written by Gloria Anzaldua, the writer discusses her personal experience growing up having her culture torn from her and also how important it is that people are able to keep their language. For Anzaldua, having expereinces where people in her life tried to make her forget her language and where she came from was comparable to war against her. She argues that the Mexican-American culture in North America is being dominated by Americans. She also brings up a lot of interesting information that shows just how complex the different Mexican cultures are, and this goes to show that there is a lot more depth to Mexican-American culture than what is being taught in schools or workplaces. Anzaldua shares her experience and gives a glimpse of how difficult it is to grow up from a different culture in the U.S. and cling to your language and heritage, especially as a bilingual American. 

    As I read Gloria Anzalduas expereinces and what she had to share about this topic I felt that there was so much that I had not been made aware of about her culture. Something that stood out to me was when she talked about nosotros being a distorted version which only took on the male gender pronouns, but really there is such a thing as nosotras. This stood out to me because in all of my Spanish classes in high school we were taught that there was only nosotros, which aparently is not true. This is important because it seems like an attempt not only to overlook bilingual culture, but also women. 

Evolving Languages

 Jesse Ernst

2/16/21

GEOG 101

Evolving Languages

Anzaldua in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” explains how she feels her language, the Spanish language, has changed and evolved into a language with many accents, dialects, and even become new languages.  Chicano Spanish is one of these. This language is a “border tongue which developed naturally” (p. 37). It started out of a need to “identify ourselves as a distinct people” (p. 37). Anzaldua explained that “Chicanos, after 250 years of Spanish/Anglo colonization, have developed significant differences in the Spanish we speak” (p. 39).  “Other Spanish-speaking groups are going through the same, or similar, development in their Spanish” (p. 39) as more people migrate away from their place of origin.

America has done injustice to many, forcing people who speak a different language than English to conform or be punished. Anzaldua remembered being caught speaking Spanish at recess; she was punished on the knuckles with a ruler.  Spanish speakers were not the only people group whose language was targeted by language enforcers. In Alaska many elders as children were punished in all different ways for speaking their native languages. Spanish speakers were told regularly, “ If you want to be American speak ‘American’. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong” (p.36).  Just this last week I heard someone make a comment similar to this referring to native Alaskan languages.  The idea of only speaking English seems strange to me since many people in the United States can trace their ancestry to other language groups.

Anzaldua thought Chicanos who grew up speaking Chicano Spanish were internalizing a belief that they spoke poor Spanish even an illegitimate “bastard language” (p. 40).  People around her felt uncomfortable talking in Spanish to Latinas, afraid of being judged by the way they spoke Spanish.  When La Raza Unida party formed in Texas, the Chicanos were legitimized as a people group.  Although “the struggle of identities continues” (p. 40), Chicanos find themselves persevering and unbreakable.

Language

 Vandalyn Hudson

2.16.2021

Languages and Culture

In the article the main argument is how her culture was not acceptable no matter where she was. It also mentioned how she did not feel comfortable in her own skin because of the way people looked at her whether they were English or Spanish speakers. This article also talked about the many different languages for Spanish for people who lived in different areas of Mexico or just picking up different lingo. They also mention how music and food can really bring back the feeling of being at home and she misses it because being in American made her change who she was deep down. This essay also comments on how America changes people’s culture by having these standards when in reality that it is okay to have different languages or lingo etc.

I can somewhat relate to this essay because I always felt weird in my own skin growing up as an Asian American especially with my household being half Asian and half American, but me being full Asian. I felt like my own family wouldn’t understand my views because they were half white and I wasn’t.

Language

Theresa Wellington- McGilton

Richard Simpson 

16 February 2021 

Response Paper 

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

In Gloria Anzaldua’s, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” she analyzes the cultural and social differences between Mexican and American culture and how immigrants fall in the middle. She believes that one shouldn’t be looked down upon simply because they speak another language. 

A main theme that coursed through the paper was acculturation. Her belief is that people shouldn’t have to give up who they are to feel like they can be successful. Individuals shouldn’t have to give up their culture or their language to be successful where they are. The author believes that for her and others like her to be successful in America they have to abandon who they are and she gives real life examples from her own experiences to back up her claims. 

I agree with a good amount of the author’s thoughts and I think that is because of who I am and where I come from. She speaks about being a little girl and not being able to speak Spanish and if she was caught doing so there was a punishment. This kind of thing hasn’t directly happened to me, but my people’s language is dying in part because of events like these. My grandparent’s generation was ‘discouraged’ from speaking the native language this way. 

After I finished this reading I found myself spotting the similarities between her stories/ examples and my own culture. I guess you could say that I get where she is coming from and my people understand some of the experiences she’s had. At the end of the piece she says, “Yet the struggle of identities continues, the struggle of borders is our reality still…” As long as people are made to feel “lesser” because of who they are what ethnicity they are, the inner struggle of identities will continue. 

Differences in Languages and Cultures

     In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue'' by Golria Anazdula her main point is that there is not really Mexican-American culture in America. She says that when she was younger her mom told her that since she is in America she needs to learn to speak “American” properly. Gloria dealt with this throughout her whole life when she is teaching students as well as while she is in graduate school. She mentions at the end of the paper that while all other languages are changing and disappearing that spanish and spanish culture is staying mostly consistent. While she does mention that it is hard to be a spanish speaker in America she also shares the stories of her and her family watching Mexican movies in a drive in theater. She shares both cultures but they do not necessarily mix. 

Gloria shares that it is not easy being bilingual in the United States. There are consequences to being able to speak spanish while living in America. People tell you that you need to speak “American” when American is not even a language. It is possible to lose your ancestral culture because you feel the need to fit in with what American society tells you.

Living Language

Stasia Skonberg

Cultural Geography: Dr. Richard Simpson

2/16/21

Response Paper 5

A Living Language

         In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldua brings us through the complexities of her identity and the identities of many Spanish speakers as their languages change and grow through time and place. “Nostros Los Chicanos straddle the borderlands. On one side of us we are constantly exposed to the Spanish of the Mexicans, on the other side we hear the Anglos’ incessant clamoring so that we forget our language (Anzaldua, 43).”

         Throughout the essay, Gloria speaks about how as a child she was punished for speaking Spanish on the playground and not conforming to the “American” accent and language. In college, her and other Chicano students were forced to take speech classes in which the goal was to strip them of their Mexican accents to further create the whole “American” ideal. This treatment caused major pain and a loss of identity among Chicano people because they were constantly being drowned with the pressure to conform to the anglo side but then also be in touch with their Spanish side.

         Out of this came a culmination of different dialects and languages among Spanish speakers in the U.S in order to keep their languages alive in a constant English driven country. A mixture of slang terms from English and Spanish formed Chicano Spanish, a living language. The reason Spanish has and will continue to grow and grow as a main spoken language is because of this resilience and ability to live. Just as our place names and locations should change with the generations that come and go, so should our languages in order to continue them on. Without them being spoken, they disappear and with our languages, cultures disappear. Gloria’s entire argument is that being ashamed of who you are and what you speak is a part of  your growth and apart of your identity.  Just as you grow and change throughout time, so does your culture and your language.

Language and people

 Jennifer Burton

Geog 101

2/16/2021

Response paper #5

Language and people

Gloria Anzaldua, in the article “How to Tame a Wield Tongue,” has many interesting thoughts that I had never considered in quite the same way. She lives a life of someone who is struggling to find her place in the world  because she lives between two cultures, her Mexican culture and her American culture. Both cultures did not accept her for who she was. In her American culture she was not able to speak Spanish and considered less then others.  In her Mexican culture she was looked down upon because her Spanish was a little different from others. She feels she does not fit in either culture.  Many people from many different cultures find themselves in  a similar circumstance in the United States.

This is an example of what we learned in chapter five. People have a period of time when they come to a new culture where they try out different cultural ideas and then keep some and leave others behind. Cultural simplification occurs when parts of cultural traits are implemented and others are modified. This is important for a people to adopt new ideas, and use new techniques and approaches to their advantage in their new land. 

I, along with Anzaldua, think that she and people like her are an important part of our society. They bring more instead of taking away. We as Americans should be celebrating our differences and the amazing ability humans have to adapt to new ways of living. She and people like her are building a new culture with a new language.  I think and I hope that as globalization continues, that people are able to see these differences in other cultures as good and as a source of spice and diversity to life.  I also hope that people will become more accepting of themselves and others.  When we see each other for who we are and use those differences to make our world a better place, we become better together.

Place Naming

In the chapter “Naming Place” by Paul Cater, ideas of language and relation to place are explored with Australia as a case study. Cater discusses British relationship to Australia with Names and quotations of famous authors acting as a sort of evidence and says that perception of place is grounded in the language of the observer and reflected in the names given to those places. Carter seems to be highlighting a kind of metaphor for reality that is created by language, and with which people, through the practice of association, people describe the world. Carter says, in this passage: 

“…depended on a profounder assumption. It depended on the assumption that distinct ideas existed to be related. But how is a distinct idea defined, except in relation to other ideas?” (Cater pg. 403).

I found this reading to be odd, and, honestly, not to my taste. At most Carter seemed to be pointing out a kind of relativity created by language. This argument, though, is kind of bottomless. Once all things are thrown into relativity, then everything is. As he says, “how is a distinct idea defined” (Carter pg.403). While the ideas explored here were mildly interesting, it did not seem as what he was pointing out was much helpful in the wider discussion of Geography. I will freely admit that my view on this piece is not complete, as what I read was only two chapters out of a whole book. 

Naming and Spaces

 Madison Blackburn

Geography 101

Paul Carter’s “Spatial History” and “Naming Place” was all about the space of places, the history of the spaces, and how they were named. A place is usually named after something significant to the area or the people living in the area, there is usually a history around it. Where I live you can see an island that everyone here know’s as “The Elephant’s Nose”, this is because it looks like an elephants head and trunk while it is laying down. This has had this name for years and is continually passed down through generations. The reading also talked about how the names of the places have been changed in some years and it was interesting to read about the changes that occur over years and really put it into place of how things have changed in our own home town. The “Naming Place” reading talked about the significance of names of places to individual people, how some people think of a special place when they hear certain names and how they may be unique to them. Both of these readings were really interesting and tied in together as they talked about the naming of places and the history behind both the name and the space and the changes that occur.

Place, A Stage of History

 Tyler Grasser

2/9/2021

Cultural Geography

Paul Carter

Place, a stage of history

I found these two articles to be quite mentally stimulating, as they challenged my mind to think deeply about things that have never crossed my mind. To think of “place” as a sort of stage comparable to a stage used for theater performances, but rather for history to play itself out was quite new for me to think about but also quite true. Without the concept of place and space it would be incredibly difficult if not impossible to accurately retell or record events that may have occurred. This is also a very imperialistic way of viewing space and place, as the primary object is not to understand or interpret that place, rather to legitimize that location. 

When it comes to describing and or naming a place or space the language of emotion comes into effect as language of description. People of typical western cultures and ideologies typically use the “lazy luxury of comparison” in order to designate a name to a place. This is very evident when we look at imperialist place names in Australia where the landscape and climate are unlike anything we see in Europe.

By designating a name to a place we are essentially breathing history into being because we give events a place or direct coordinates to occur. Place names embody the travelers, explorers, colonizers territorial and directional ambitions which is the desire to possess and make real in their mind.

The Theatrics of Spatial History

Jennifer Spatz

2/9/2021

Response Paper 4

The Theatrics of Spatial History

In the passage, Spatial History, by Paul Carter, the idea of land before known history is explored and compared to theater performances. Before land was developed into what we know and see today, Carter challenges the idea that this land was not designed by those seeking out historical significance, but instead, the land followed a natural progression, one that was inevitable with the events of humans and their developments. Carter claims that within the development and knowledge of history, historians are not the ones who stage or dictate the events of history, but they are instead the ones who weave together the pieces of history, forming the plot and background. Historians, in this sense, are merely audience members or dictators viewing a performance and describing the events. “History is the playwright” itself, and there are no other writers, just historians who play a spectator role. 

“For the result of cause and effect narrative history is to give the impression that events unfold according to a logic of their own. They refer neither to place, nor to the people.” I find the comparison between history and the theater as Carter explains, to be very interesting. It is a comparison that I have never considered before but now that I have heard it, I think that it adds an interesting element to history. I think that it is a fair comparison in which there is an array of inevitable drama that unfolds, sustainable illusions, and unquestioned convention of the spectator. As history has a timeline with events unfolding through a record, creating events that are open for interpretation while the result of the story stands. 

Places and Spaces

 Response Paper

Alice Williams

GEOG101

Places and Spaces

In two readings we read by Paul Carter this week, called “Naming Place” and “Spatial History” he covers thoughts behind the creation of place names, and how that relates to spatial history. Carter explains how many place names are not reflecting what is there, which causes questions about what the names mean and why they’re named what they are. He discusses place naming as it pertains to travelers, and he states, “The paradox they express is not descriptive. Rather, it refers to the traveller’s state of expectation” (405). These unassociated names, as they apply to travelers, are meant to bring meaning and differentiation. Carter explains how place naming relates to language and the meaning behind the words to impose the intended representation of the place.

When referring to “spatial history” Carter talks about the history of space in how it becomes a place. He discusses imperial history and explorers discovering land and how they moved through and found meaning in space. Carter discusses how literature relates to space as “the letters home, the explorer’s journals, the unfinished maps—are written traces which, but for their spatial occasion, would not have come into being”. He is referring to cultural space, and how that space “begins and ends in language” (367). Interestingly, in our book Chapter 4, they discuss regional language and toponyms, "spatial patterns of language" that are recognizable to that area. For example, “terms that can identify as Midland American include: Gap, Cove, Hollow, Knob.”(139). 

I found chapter 4 pretty interesting, especially when looking at how languages and dialects shift boundaries and change over time, and the section discussing languages and cultural survival. I am currently taking Alaska Native studies and this is a topic we have been discussing as many Alaska Native languages are at risk. In Carter’s readings, I like how he points out the connection between space and place naming, and how it relates to language and meaning. It’s not something I usually think about, why a place has a specific name, but just today my daughter asked me why the mountain Devil’s Thumb was called Devil’s Thumb. It resembles a thumb shape, and I told her maybe they thought it looked like the devil's thumb sticking out of the earth. It’s kind of an odd image when I think about it now, and I don’t know if that’s what people were imaging when they named it, but that’s what I always pictured as a child.

History of Space

 Nizhoni Franklin

Richard Simpson

Cultural Geography

9 February 2021

History of Space

Paul Carter’s “Spatial History” discusses the naming of spaces and how imperial history affects different landscapes.

Carter first explains to the reader the harmfulness of imperial history by telling us that using this kind of history ends up reducing spaces to stages, only paying attention to certain points in time rather than everything that happens in and around that landscape. He also goes to say that imperial history isn’t always completely accurate and tends to put the main subjects of some events more into heroes rather than showing the world who they actually were, one example being colonization. We read about the positives of the colonists, the supposed discovery of “The New World”, Manifest destiny when in actuality these events in history caused the genocide of millions of Indigenous peoples and the forced relocation of the remaining Indigenous tribes. Imperial history even shows that most places are named after the people who discovered them, rather than aspects of the places.

Paul Carter’s “Spatial History” talks about different spaces and their names as an example of the harms imperial history and the hasty naming of spaces without much exploration or symbolism going into them.

Spatial History

 Vandalyn Hudson

Spatial History

2/9/2021

In the article, Spatial History  by Paul Carter, the most specific claim is that cultural space has a lot of history which is due to the travellers who experience what they encounter. Carter mentions that travelling plays a huge part in this because of the way they see the space is how the name begins for that space. He also mentions how other keywords such as imperial history, which he refers to as the different events that take place in that space. It is said in the article that without history taking place, the place would not be named. The key word in this article is spatial history and cultural place because a space with history is a place that can be named. It has meaning behind it due to the travellers that experienced what they saw and always discovering more of it. 

Spatial History

Theresa Wellington- McGilton 

9 February 2021

Spatial History 

Response Paper 4 

Spatial History 

    Chapter 66, “Spatial History” by Paul Carter is a  very interesting piece of writing. It discusses how historians believed that events unfolded because they were always meant to all the while never referring to place or people. Carter then explains why that is not so. 

He starts the piece off by looking at it from the historians perspective and how they compared history to a theatrical performance. He says that history itself is the playwright, and the historian is merely a copyist. He goes on to explain that,  “this cause and effect narrative history is to make you think that events unfold according to a logic of their own. They refer neither to the place, nor to the people” (Carter 376). 

The book that this chapter was taken from is written against the topic above. “It is a prehistory of places, a history of roads, footprints, trails of dust and foaming wakes… Against the historians, it recognizes that our life as it discloses itself spatially is dynamic, material but invisible (Carter 376). It goes on to discuss how cultural space has a rich history and you can tell from its historical documents such as letters home, journals of explorers, maps and more. What I gathered from this reading is that history is not the ‘main character’ but relies heavily on spatial history. 

Spatial Illusion

Stasia Skonberg

Cultural Geography: Dr. Richard Simpson

2/7/21

Response Paper 4

Spatial Illusion

         In Paul Carter’s chapters “Spatial History and Naming Places”, we are brought through the history of place naming in Australia and how Imperial history has reduced its spaces to a stage in which focuses on “…events unfolding in time alone”(Carter,p 375). Carters most specific  claim in his spatial history chapter is how the primary ways of telling history are surrounded by this illusion of an “all seeing spectator” leaving the historian to be seen as just a bystander. By doing this, historians reduced space to a stage in which history can play out on in a logical and linear way. Instead of thinking of a place for its cultural inhabitants or specific specialties of the land, we think of these places in relation to other places that we know.

         Real, true history is the history of roads, footprints, and trails of dust, according to Carter. Not the physical, written histories that we can see but the living, breathing, human nature of a space. Space should be defined through which a culture declares its presence and not what the “founder” can compare what they see it to in order to better navigate the land. Carter's main argument is that our life spatially is dynamic, and material that is invisible. By destroying the understanding that conquerors of those lands are heroes attempting to fulfill a higher destiny, as imperial history implies, we are brought to the reality of space.

The reality of space is that it is a vast and open concept that we as humans need, but we as humans also control and enforce our own ideals and comparisons onto. Space is confusing and twisted, not linear and logical and it is not meant to be understood as a stage in which things just occur. We are directly impacting our space and other peoples spaces, and as soon as we as humans can accept that, then we can begin to reclaim cultural space.  

Space is a Stage

 Rylee Johnson 

GEOG 101

2/9/21

Response Paper 4

Space is a Stage 

In the article “Spatial History” by Paul Carter the author talks about place naming, space, place, and history. Carter gives us his insight into how a place can not be defined without history. Carter offers us a similar viewpoint to the concept of place. Carter shows us through key points, history, and keywords how space can not be defined without history. 

Carter makes key points to back up his similar theory of the concept of place. Caters strongest argument is that a place can not be named without some sort of history taking place in it. “...the cultural place where spatial history begins: not in a particular year, nor in a particular place, but in the act of naming. For by the act of place-naming, space is transformed symbolically into a place, that is, a space with a history.” (Carter,3) Carter is backing up his theory here where he talks about how a place can not be named without a history. History or cultural place is what makes up spatial history, it is what makes up space. The significance behind this claim is that history is the playwright for every space, and every space is a stage for history to unfold on and in geography, we study the significance and effects of human activity on the earth and this affects the earth and humans. 

The author uses history to back up his key points in the article on spatial history. The author talks of the history of Australia and Clarke's account of the landing of the First Fleet. How in this concept historians are only mere playwrights or spectators for history to unfold. Carter talks about how space is just a stage for history to unfold on and how this space has meaning because history has happened there. Just like how the land that the First Fleet has meaning because of the history that unfolded on the land. 

The author uses keywords to further back up his arguments of spatial history. The keywords found in the article were spatial history and the definition is the movement of humans and things over time and space. Another keyword that I found was spatial forms and this is part of two categories founded by Michel de Certeau. Place was also another keyword meaning a particular position or position in space. Another keyword space can be defined as geographers as empty and only when that emptiness is filled by history then it can have meaning. Another way the author connected the keywords and things we are discussing in class is by talking about place naming or toponyms. The key term generic toponym in chapter 4 is defined as the naming of a place because of a significant building or event in history. This is connected to the article because the author mentions place naming and the process of toponym. 

Place Names

 Jennifer Burton

Geog. 101

2/9/2021

Response paper #4

Place Names

Place names are an important part of earth writing in geography. Places are named so that they can be identified from other places and so that they can become a part of earth's history. A place is not a place until it is named, which often gives the place value to the people on earth.  Places are named for experiences that happened there, characteristics of the place, or how people want the place to be perceived by others. Different people have different points of reference when it comes to place names, which can often be confusing.

 In the article “Naming Place” by Paul Carter, he talks about a poem by a man named Baron Fields who feels very frustrated by the names chosen for some of  Australia's mountains and valleys. In Fields' experience, England’s mountains and deciduous trees were ever changing from season to season. That was something he knew and understood and that he felt was poetic. Australia, to him, was never changing.  Eucalyptus trees were eternally unchanging, and to him seemed to not be poetic.

He also talks about a place in Australia called Tabletop Mountain.  In my own experience if someone told me about a tabletop mountain I would think of Utah’s red mesas, such as in  Zions National Park. Others, like Fields, could think of Mountains in England with gray cliffs and leaves that are constantly changing with the seasons. Yet the people in Australia would think of their eucalyptus covered black mountains.  This makes it hard for people to relate to places that are foreign, despite similar names.

People often associate place names with their own experiences. Fields’ experiences suggest that the names picked for Australia  did not fit. This does not make the names misnomers for the people in Australia, Utah, or England.. Everyplace is its own, and is understood by those who live there. Fields did not understand Australia or experience Australia in the same way someone from Australia would. Each person brings their own experiences when choosing a name, knowing why and taking the time to understand a name is important in order to experience the same love for someone else's homeland.

History Forgotten and Renamed

 Jesse Ernst

2/9/21

GEOG 101

History Forgotten and Renamed

Paul Carter in “Naming Place” describes how a space becomes a place by the association in thought to another place; however, sometimes a personal association to a particular name may leave the space undefined and thought of perhaps as ugly or undesirable.  Carter states that distinct ideas exist as they are related, “all kinds of reasoning consist in nothing but a comparison, and a discovery of those relations, either constant or inconstant, which two or more objects bear to each other” (p. 403).  A simple example of this: How do I know the wall in my kitchen is light green?  I only know this by association with another similar object that is like in color. Thus after reflecting on previous knowledge or past experiences of what the true color of green is, or what I believe it is, I name the wall light green.

Beauty or poetry is truly in the eye of the beholder.  Field’s writing was “highly critical of Australian place names, which, he, presumes, attempt to apply the principles of association.” (p. 403).  He seemed to insult Australia's unique beauty and misunderstand names given to places.  He missed the fact that “it was the names themselves that brought history into being, that invented the spatial and conceptual coordinates within which history could occur” (p. 404-405).  How else could people agree on fixed points of space without these names?    

Carter, in "Spatial History", addresses how history changes the names of specific places and often the identity/associations of the place.  “This kind of history, which reduces space to a stage, that pays attention to events unfolding in time alone, might be called imperial history” (p. 375); each generation of explorers lays claim as if they were the first to name the place.  Throughout time, many have claimed original names as if they trump all other names. These names, whether symbolic or established,  are “rewritten and repeated” again and again through history.  A friend of mine from a village near Bethel gave me a story book from elders who wrote down some of their history.  When I examined the book, I found names of places I didn't know and wondered what area of Alaska this book talked about.  My friend then pointed out to me the lakes named in the book and the nearby villages, names that were different from what they are now.  Some of the names were only spelled differently he explained and made simpler so English speakers could tell how it was said; others were older names based on incidents that had occurred in the past.  The geography was almost entirely forgotten.   This reminds me of Carter’s statement that names are used because of “the desire to differentiate, the necessity of naming in order to travel” (Naming Place, p. 406).  The locations are no longer used for local travel, so the names have been forgotten by many. 

Railroads

 Travis Marsden

GEOG 101

Jan. 28, 2021

Response Paper 3

Railroad Space and Railroad Time

Railroads have had a major impact on transportation when they were invented in the 1800s. The early 19th century believed that it destroyed space and time because of the high speeds railroad transportation can accomplish. The fastest transportation before trains was stagecoaches, which had an average speed of eight miles per hour. In the 1840s most trains were able to reach speeds up to seventy miles per hour. Transportation speeds going from eight miles per hour to seventy is why they thought railroads broke space and time. All of a sudden people can travel ten times the distance then they normally would with stagecoaches. Also with stagecoaches, they had to switch the horses out regularly in order to keep the average eight mile per hour speed. While they believed it destroyed space and time, they also mentioned that it was expanded. The journey of space and time was destroyed, but was expanded by being able to travel greater distances.

 Kiley Miller

Response 

Week 4

Development of Space

This week, we were tasked with reading "Railroad Space and Railroad Time" by Wolfgang Schivelbusch and “Fortress Los Angeles: Militarization of Urban Space” by Mike Davis. At first glance these readings appear to be entirely different. However, I see these readings as a chronological story. These readings show what happens as the spaces of humans progress.

In "Railroad Space and Railroad Time", Wolfgang describes the new relationship humans have with their surroundings after the invention of commercial railroads. Space and distance seem to shrink now that a weeks long walk to another country can be reached in a day by train. As day trips become more commonplace, places start to lose their individuality in order to accommodate the increasing number of tourists. However, not only are railroads forcing places to lose their uniqueness, but they are also altering the entire human perception of space. As previously stated, space-time seemed to shrink due to the fast traveling of trains, but as Wolfgang puts it, “the alteration of spatial relationships through the speed mustered by the railroad is not simply a process that diminishes space, but that it is a dual one: it both diminishes and expands space.” Towns feel smaller, but now other towns are more accessible, thus making space feel bigger. In making the world more available, humanity sacrificed the perception of space-time, and the uniqueness of our homes.

As humans shove forward into tourist grabbing cities, we stumble into Mike Davis’  “Fortress Los Angeles: Militarization of Urban Space”. Los Angeles is a city that builds its current identity of a tourist trap on the backs of its lower class citizens. While it strives for a sleek and beautiful downtown, it fights to hide the “undesirables” on the outskirts. This city is so concerned about being a traveling center, it has lost its own uniqueness, and lost sight of the beauty of all its citizens. The overdependence on the traveling masses has caused Los Angeles to wage war against its own citizens, and it is using architecture to do it. Instead of taking care of all citizens, the city has built walled parks, fenced malls, and a fortressed library in order to intimidate the lower class from entering public spaces. Bum-proof benches and random sprinklers keep the homeless from sleeping within view of shops. However, public spaces are not the only areas under attack. Police forces and cinder block barricades line city blocks to keep the outskirts in order. Public officials call the lower class “drug lords” and “crack smokers” in order to make the middle class fearful. The number of gated communities has risen because of the increasing demand of security. The city is so busy catering to travelers, it has lost all ties to the original Los Angeles. It is now just a mess of smoky mirrors and dirty tricks to keep outsiders from seeing the truth.

These readings show that as the demand for travel destinations increases, the original cities lose value and are bleached out to pull people in.

Railroads

 Madison Blackburn

Geography 101

This week we had two readings that were known as “Railroad Space and Railroad Time” by Wolfgang Schivelbusch and then the second one was “Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarization of Urban Space” by Mike Davis. I enjoyed reading both of these because I felt they both had good perspectives and view points. I think out of these two readings the “Railroad Space and and Railroad Time” kept my interest the longest. 

This reading told about how railroads changed things especially the time to travel somewhere and the space between your travel destinations by railroads. By using a railroad you will arrive at your destination so quick, that you almost forget about the space in between the two places. Before trains, the travel took much longer. With a longer travel also usually means more sight seeing, and more stops for various things, but with a train, you often don’t need to stop due to the shortness of the trip. 

The reading, “Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarization of Urban Space” talked about the security for different travel options and what people need to follow. Before this, there weren’t as many regulations. The city of Los Angeles has changed a lot with security and and enforcements. It is so crazy how this common town has made it so segregated from certain types of people in certain public places. 

Overall, these both linked to each other talking about their geography and landscape. I think they are both important topics, but the first reading about railroads, time, and space kept my interest longer, and made me glad to have gotten the opportunity to read it.