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Title: Escapism by Yi-Fu Tuan ISBN: 0-8018-6540-9 Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr Pub. Date: October, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Culture as an escape from animality
Comment: We tend to think of the way we live as "reality". Yet all human culture - from the smallest object to the grandest ideological-religious system - is a form of escape. Indeed, argues Tuan, it may well be the defining feature of humans, as a species, that we have this capacity to imagine and implement transformative projects; that we can turn the world to our will (or try to), rather than remaining the victim of Nature or of our own natures. "Escape" or "the imagination" is value-neutral, argues Tuan, as he explores the methods by which we attempt to escape from animality, and how it can lead us into both the grotesque and the sublime. What's incredibly satisfying about this book is that Tuan approaches his topic not from the position of philosopher or psychologist, but from the perspective of "human geography" which, in practice, becomes a helpful blend of sociology and anthropology grounded in history and science, but with enough gaps to allow for fruitful speculation. My only complaint is that the sheer breadth of Yi-Fu Tuan's knowledge leaves you feeling slightly dissatisfied, as if this book is only scratching the surface of an immense topic - which, of course, it necessarily is. So I suppose my dissatisfaction is only with myself. Thankfully, Tuan provides detailed notes and an excellent bibliography to point the way forward.
Rating: 5
Summary: Cure for a figurative head cold
Comment: Yi-Fu Tuan says that "a human being is an animal who is congenitally indisposed to accept reality as it is." He says ESCAPISM is the strategy we employ to rid ourselves of the humdrum of daily life which he likens to suffering a head cold. The book itself is a good head-clearing remedy. Tuan covers a wide range of topics in human cultural history and gives us a lot to think about.
He gives an "unusual" perspective on nature and culture, looking at the very meaning of reality and exploring why, traditionally, "myths", "daydreaming", and "fantasy" have such negative connotations. This is especially puzzling he says in light of escapism being not only a historical human impulse but also a universal one. He shows this with examples from Eastern and Western culture. Another puzzle is why, if it's so intrinsic to our nature, do we choose to make some explorations of it so painful? His chapter on "Hell" looks at the less-than-pleasant escapes that we have inflicted on ourselves.
Tuan is a geographer of some repute and he exhibits his masterly command of exploration of unknown spaces and places with this fascinating journey through our imagination, culture, and psyche.
He is occasionally humorous and writes in a spare, straightforward style. Reading this book is escapism itself as it will make you think, and in a final bit of perceptive wisdom Tuan has this to say: "Even in modern America, thinking is suspect. It is something done by the idly curious or by discontented people." If that's true then I endorse being idly curious and recommend escaping for a while with this book.
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Title: Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience by Yi-Fu Tuan, Steven Hoelscher ISBN: 0816638772 Publisher: University of Minnesota Press Pub. Date: 08 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Power of Place by Winifred Gallagher ISBN: 0060976020 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 16 March, 1994 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes, and Values by Tuan Yi-Fu, Yi-Fu Tuan ISBN: 023107395X Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: November, 1990 List Price(USD): $23.50 |
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Title: Textures of Place: Exploring Humanist Geographies by Paul C. Adams, Steven Hoelscher, Karen E. Till ISBN: 0816637571 Publisher: University of Minnesota Press Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Who Am I?: An Autobiography of Emotion, Mind, and Spirit (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography) by Yi-Fu Tuan ISBN: 0299166600 Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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