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.