>What are the non-consensual tendencies of a place that have it vibrate in >such a way that we get an overwhelming sense of the uniqueness of that >place. Is it like falling in love when we meet a place that vibrates with >all the signals that make us want to keep on being there even in the >toughest of times. ... what is the space of love that we respond to ....
Wow Susan, you really captured something for me. I resonate with what you say about place, land, the falling in love with something deep, nonconsensual about the land, its smells, shapes, contours, etc. I have lived in many places, and frequently feel I could live anywhere, but I know deep down it's not true. There are places on this planet that feel like home, and I wonder how much my identity is unconsciously affected/shaped by place, and the spirits of place. Makes me think maybe this is a partial answer to a why there are many different responses and experiences among people who migrate, or have to leave a place forcibly. Some never embrace the new place, and live the rest of their lives in a state of longing, while others take to the new place as if it was always a part of them...... What about looking at place & identity from the point of view of the place itself, and the type of denizen it dreams of? Julie > -----Original Message----- > From: Susan Locke [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2002 5:12 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: New Topic > > > Hi Susan from another Susan > > Thanks for going with this topic. > > I'm really slow on it. I went blank when I first read it and it's > taking me > a long time to get into it. It seems easy to be able to talk about it at a > political level, given all the experiences of not just the > current political > situation but all the previous ones. And I'm really slow as I am also > processing being white, colonialist, middle class, city based, > etc, etc and > conscious of being able to step into a big pile of doggy doo just > like that > ... > > ... so anyway giving it a go and looking forward to having people > telling me > that I better have the nose peg at the ready .... > > .... what is not easy for me is how to talk in the actual sense of words > (spoken or written) about a sense of place. i am struggling with > this... i'm > noticing that I want to talk about a "place identity" rather than > a national > identity .... a place identity (and identity is not the word either) that > somehow in the influences of land and people seems to have a particular > flavour or evocation of memory that sways and changes at the same time as > particular markers of place - smells, quality of light, colours, > landscapes, > sounds, feel of air on skin, tastes, lots of things - seem to stay > constant. > > .... i'm wondering about a different thinking where identity may > be a mix of > social/psychological interplays with "the land" as a shaper of identity. > This is clumsy but I can't think of another way to say it. And I am > conscious of my western approach to this, and just being outright dumb on > this issue. .... can anyone help me out on this? > > ... i'm interested in how those markers of place play out in the dreamlife > of a person. ... i think I am going blank around the topic of national > identity because I know that I can get easily pulled into a discourse on > politics, what are the roles, what's needed to change, the personalities, > etc - all maybe necessary parts of being engaged within a social/political > environment. I am resisting this as this path for me. Whilst I > can see that > it is a necessary part of change, it means that I need to keep > on engaging > on each new front as it appears, each of which only seems to change the > country and the names of the players. I keep on feeling that I need to > support the younger people around me take up this fight but ohhhhh I am so > tired of the taking up the fight myself. > > ... and yet if I go with thinking of a "sense of place"as an > alternative to > national identity it is also hard to work with - how many of us are > migrants into the countries we live in as first, second, 100th. etc > generation, how many of us are struggling with coming to terms with the > destruction that our generations' or or ancestors migration have > wreaked on > the original landscapes and peoples. And how many of us deeply love the > place that we have come to, at the same time as being drawn to > the patterns > of memory from this lifetime or other lifetimes that also connect us to > other places as parts of our identity. For me this is the dialogue I am > having internally about national identity. > > ... i am wondering how other people feel about the dreaming space > within the > land they live in/have lived in and all the other lands that have > connected > to their lives. > > What are the non-consensual, sensory experiences that connect us in such a > way that a tendency emerges within us for saying that we feel > connected to a > <name of country> identity. > > What are the non-consensual tendencies of a place that have it vibrate in > such a way that we get an overwhelming sense of the uniqueness of that > place. Is it like falling in love when we meet a place that vibrates with > all the signals that make us want to keep on being there even in the > toughest of times. ... what is the space of love that we respond to .... > > Thanks for the space that you have opened up Susan. I am slow on > this topic; > I have wanted to write in before this but am finding it difficult > to respond > quickly - needing space and some silence to let it filter through. > > I want to thank you for asking the question. > > Warmest wishes, > Susan > >
