Considering this idea of properly defining place it seems to me that the very simple definition I’ve proposed, involving the joining of location with meaning, itself necessarily suggests a personalisation of landscape.
Linking the personal to natural landscapes then emerges as a potentially key concept within this broader characterisation.
But there are complications wrapped up in this idea (and with something as ethereal as sense of place I suspect there always will be). For there exist I’m certain plenty of examples of locations that resonate with rich meaning despite having no obvious or clear personal connection to the subject observer, but rather draw their significance from a host of externally situated sources.
A sense of place might arise, for example, from a purely intellectual understanding of the history associated with a location, a history that might have much more relevance to others for whom it is particularly significant.
Meaning might likewise arise from a particular condition of the natural environment, existing outside the influence of the observer. The power of winter storms on a rocky stretch of coast, or the drone of cicadas in the heat of a summer afternoon, or the just perceptible touch of a breeze in the waning light of a desert evening, might trigger sense of place. The particulars of these environmental phenomena could be considered no more than products of the perceptive capabilities of the observer. But the point is that they source externally and as part of the inherent identity of the physical location do not require any previous linkages to the personal experience of that observer to contribute to a sense of place.
Place meaning might generate from something else altogether, something intangible, something arising from an unknown or unidentifiable source, but no less real in its contribution.
I’ve experienced this on more than one occasion, arriving at a location only to be struck by the overpowering sense of place, despite having never been there before, having no connection with the location, nor any genuine intellectual understanding of it. That sense might indeed have been triggered by the physical conditions or perhaps some unconscious understanding of the geography, or some combination of these factors, but it did not arise from anything I could directly connect to myself at that point in time.
With this in mind it seems to me that personal connection still resonates as a valid component of understanding place, but perhaps it is best considered as an in-the-moment linkage to a location, one that relies to some extent on contributed meaning while helping to spontaneously generate new meaning.
This idea of connections between the individual experiencing place and location is clearly multi-faceted. There is surely the bringing together on some level of cultural and natural. And the results can be either persistent, or fleeting and transitory.
Involving as they do a certain amount of investment, to nurture self-awareness for instance, these connections suggest that a certain level of ownership, or perhaps stewardship, is associated with place. But it is not a custodial role in the traditional sense. In this case the responsibility exists within, on an intensely personal level, such that one is open to the experience of place.
Whether internally or externally generated, the connections serve to undermine the alien-ness of a location, particularly that associated with locations newly experienced. They bring together in a meaningful way that which is imposed upon us (and which can therefore be considered interpretation) and that which is personally and simply felt.
The myriad of connections wrapped up in place create a highly complex and subtle network of interactions with a location – powerful and obvious, yet often difficult to capture or characterise to any sort of satisfying degree.
A personal example, along with some associated imagery, might help unwrap this a bit. About two years ago I took a week’s holiday with my daughters to Kaikoura, on the east coast of the South Island here in New Zealand.
One day was devoted to exploring the Kaikoura Peninsula, which was completely new to all of us at the time. I had heard tell about its natural beauty but in New Zealand that’s like claiming the ocean is wet, so that knowledge in itself did not generate any significant meaning on a personal level. And while I did conduct my obligatory map research as a good geographer is wont to do, I set out with nothing really in the way of preconceived notions.
What resulted and what persists to this day is a particularly strong sense of place. I can’t ascribe that to any one factor or condition, but suspect it resulted from an intricate interlacing of several influences which reinforced the subsequent establishment of personal connection.
The initial trigger, as it often is for me, was indeed the natural aesthetic of that landscape. I suspect there are few places in the world like that peninsula, encapsulating the vistas out to sea, the intricate rocks and turquoise blue waters of the shoreline, the variety of unique native vegetation, the abundance of native wildlife from sea birds to fur seals and the striking proximity of massive snow covered peaks as backdrop. The response was unsurprisingly emotional, visceral.
Admittedly the physical geographer in me surfaced before too long, thinking about the landscape, why it looked the way it did, how it came to be.
Superimposed on all of this was an interesting multi-layering of culture, spanning time and nudging at my intellectual self:
- Representing the current was an obvious focus on tourism, expressed as coastal access roads, parking areas, interpretive and instructional signage, maintained walkways and other structures, all specifically designed to support the visitor. Though all represented components of the present-day cultural landscape, the purpose of this infrastructure was primarily a promotion and celebration of the natural, especially the foreshore environment and local marine life. And it was effective, allowing close and to my experience unprecedented access to the peninsula’s iconic wildlife.
- The near past was reflected in the collections of historic structures sprinkled along the coast on the northern edge of the peninsula,
remnants of early pākehā settlers. Some lay in disrepair or as little more than indicative fragments being slowly consumed by the sea, while others were carefully resorted and served as museums or functioning establishments. - And then there were the signs of the deeper past, more subtle and requiring a keen eye. The most evident were
the grass-covered terraces of several Māori pa sites, winding about the close hills in concentric rings.
All of these influences arose from the location itself and, other than stimulating within me a consideration of the physical and cultural geography, had in and of themselves no direct connection to anything of personal meaning.
Yet that day remains clear to me even now, principally because of the strong sense of place I experienced and carried with me. The ambient conditions surely had their role to play, but it was more the resultant connection I felt in that moment that resulted in a powerful awareness of place.
And woven into all that sourced from the location itself was a deeply held appreciation of the precious time with my daughters. Drawing no doubt from their own youthful sense of that place, their unbridled joy rather than any conscious awareness of the local culture, history, or the telling nuances of the physical geography, my own experience was re-shaped and gifted with additional layers of meaning. In their presence I always engage places in new ways and this day was no exception.
I drew from the experience of my two children but ultimately filtered everything associated with that location on that day through my own perceptions, to generate personal meaning. Always conscious of how fleeting are such times with the girls in their youth, days spent together like that one on the Kaikoura Peninsula are often a mix of delight and melancholy. In this case that mingling of emotions fuelled my awareness, created a genuine connection for me and shaped the sense of place that was to persist.
A particular photograph, taken in the moment on that day, sums it up for me.
This is my sense of that place.
place 