The Spatial Hinge, Literary Geography and Political Science

Authors

  • Mon Madomitsu The University of Tokyo

Keywords:

spatial hinge, political speech, Pacific region, text analysis

Abstract

This themed section on the 'Spatial Hinge' analyzes the speeches of UK prime ministers to show how politicians try to forge connections to places where they have no observable geographical connections. The analysis reveals that, over time, the security-related implications of the word ‘Pacific’ have become stronger in the British political context, and thus there is a shift in the spatial reach of the Pacific region toward the West. The study highlights how the ‘Spatial Hinge’ can usefully describe the way the imagined extraterritoriality of a certain geographic concept is reinforced by people’s spatial experience outside the text/speech that conveys it.

References

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Published

2023-08-28

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2023)

Section

Thinking Space

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