Urban Walking and The Spatial Hinge

Authors

Keywords:

spatial hinge, walking, psychogeography, arthur machen, liminality

Abstract

This piece reframes the spatial hinge concept and incorporates it within an urban walking tour. The aim is to explore the value of walking practice for literary geographers and, through an engagement with emerging theory in this interdisciplinary approach, show how a literary text representing one place can be used to guide the mobile exploration of a different location. This case presents a public event experienced by nearly 40 people. In a collaboration with a performance artist, we explore The Hill of Dream by Arthur Machen.

Author Biography

Aled Singleton, Swansea University

Aled Singleton works at Swansea University as a Research Officer and Tutor in Geography. His main interests are in emotional and affective attachments to space and place, particularly from the perspective of urban walking and psychogeography. He enjoys collaborations with artists and film makers. Aled has a professional background managing community and urban regeneration projects.

References

Anderson, J. (2015) ‘Towards an Assemblage Approach to Literary Geography.’ Literary Geographies, 1(2), pp. 120-137.

Coverley, M. (2015) ‘The Art of Wandering: Arthur Machen's London Science.’ In Richardson, T. (ed) Walking Inside Out: Contemporary British Psychogeography. London: Rowman & Littlefield International, pp. 103-114.

Evans, J. and Jones, P. (2011). ‘The Walking Interview: Methodology, Mobility and Place.’ Applied Geography, 31(2), pp. 849-858.

Hones, S. (2008) ‘Text As It Happens: Literary Geography.’ Geography Compass, 2(5), pp. 1301-1317.

Hones, S. (2022) Literary Geography. London: Routledge.

Lee, S. (2016) The Hill of Dreams. Performed by Stewart Lee. Cardiff Contemporary, Cardiff. 25 October.

Machen, A. (2006) The Great God Pan and The Hill of Dreams. Mineola, New York State: Dover Publications.

McLaughlin, D. (2016) ‘The Work and the World: Mobilities and `Literary Space.’ Literary Geographies, 2(2), pp. 122-127.

Rouse, R. (2013) ‘Reading Ruins: Arthurian Caerleon and the Untimely Architecture of History.’ Arthuriana, 23(1), pp. 40-51.

Saunders, A. (2020) ‘Walking with Goats and Gruffalo.’ Literary Geographies, 6(2), pp. 191-194.

Solnit, R. (2014) Wanderlust. London: Granta.

Thurgill, J. (2021) ‘Literary Geography and The Spatial Hinge.’ Literary Geographies, 7(2), pp. 152-156.

Thurgill, J. and Lovell, J. (2019) ‘Expanding Worlds: Place and Collaboration in (and after) the “text-as-spatial-event”.’ Literary Geographies, 5(1), pp 16-20.

Walker, N. (2020) ‘One Walk a Day: The Freedom and Restriction of Movement through Space.’ Literary Geographies, 6(2), pp. 208-211.

Wild, S. (2012) ‘Walking in Arthur Machen's footsteps.’ Library of Wales. July. [Online] [Accessed 8 May 2023] http://thelibraryofwales.com/node/67

Williams, W. (2010) Dail Pren. Llandysul: Gomer Press.

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Published

2023-08-28

Issue

Section

Thinking Space