Places Of Memory Research Articles

Superimposed Geographies in Nadia Ghalem's "L'inconnue," La villa désir, and L'amour aux temps des mimosas

In Algerian-Québécoise author Nadia Ghalem's fiction, her approach to describing geography is remarkable. This article analyzes how geographical superimpositions function in three of her texts: "L'inconnue" (1992), La villa désir (1988) and L'amour aux temps des mimosas (2010). Ghalem's geographies are evocative of Michel de Certeau's distinction between "lieu" and "espace." If, as de Certeau argues, "l'espace est un lieu pratiqué," Ghalem's works practice imaginative landscapes through layers of place memories whose reconstructed geographies result in a sense of home. Ghalem's fictional landscapes are spaces of remaking, belonging, and connection.

Effect of Soundscape on Place Attachment for Historical Blocks: A Case Study of Harbin, China

Sound is a memory carrier in places with rich history and culture, which can invoke place memories and images. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of soundscape on place attachment in different types of historical blocks. Six historical blocks in Harbin, China, were selected, and a questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate place attachment and soundscape. The soundscape evaluations of harmony, quietness and nature were significantly higher in residential historical blocks than in tourism historical blocks. The mechanical sound source preference of residential historical blocks was lower than that of tourism historical blocks. The main components of place attachment were place bonding and identity, and place dependence, but in different orders in different types of historical blocks. In tourism historical blocks, the preference of sound source helps to enhance place attachment, especially the sounds of activities and equipment related to the history and culture of the blocks. Soundscapes promote place attachment in tourism historical blocks and are positively correlated with place satisfaction. There was no significant correlation between soundscape and place attachment in the residential historical blocks surveyed.

Virtual Representations of Cultural Heritage: Sharable and Implementable Case Study to Be Enjoyed and Maintained by the Community

This paper is related to the field of digital-informed modelling of heritage assets (HBIM). The scientific literature has been addressing this topic for years with many different facets: focusing digitalization on the analysis and modelling of heritage asset geometries, construction, development over time, or the representation of materials and degradations. This research aims not only to optimize the common digital workflows but also to demonstrate the effectiveness of digitalization and virtual reality applications in preserving the memory of places. Furthermore, a strategy for the maintenance of cultural heritage through virtual reality in a participatory process is proposed. The applied method develops appropriate new workflows and tools to enable enjoyment of monuments of the developed case study remotely; moreover, it allows the creation of content from ordinary users that can be incorporated into the digital models over time. Therefore, virtual and augmented reality environments are proving to be effective methods even for non-experts to understand space, allowing for active citizenship involvement.

Rich and sparse figurative information in children's memory for colorful places.

The relation between perceptual and conceptual knowledge is a longstanding research question in developmental psychology. Here we tested children's dependence on figurative information with a reaction time/accuracy task. A sample of 151 children from 5 to 10 years were assessed from two multicultural and multiracial schools in the London (UK) boroughs City of London and Harrow. A quarter of children in both schools were eligible for free school meals (national average 18.5%). The same 3 × 3 grid with nine individually colored places and a uniform black star as placeholder was tested in three different retrieval conditions: (a) same array as during presentation, (b) one place at a time with placeholder, and (c) one place at a time without placeholder. In a (d) control condition, individual shapes were of the same color as the colorful places. Bayes Factor analyses showed a more unified response toward figurative placeholders in 5- to 6-year-olds. Independently of age, colorful places without a placeholder were hardest to remember. Places were better remembered when a placeholder was added and still better when the spatial context of the entire array was available. Yet unique shapes with distinctive contours and colors as placeholders optimized place memory the most. While place memory accuracy increased with age, reaction times did not become faster. Instead, latencies were longer, the more visual information was available in the retrieval array. A larger perceptual effect was caused by the dynamic where-delay interference task, the sparser the amount of visual information in the retrieval array. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Research on Cultural Value Evaluation of Ciqikou Architecture based on AHP Method

This paper uses AHP to evaluate the cultural value of Ciqikou architectural elements. Based on constructing the evaluation system of the cultural value of Ciqikou building elements, this paper uses the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to determine the weight of each index and obtains the cultural value of Ciqikou building, the value of humanistic spirit,the value of regional characteristics, the value of cultural memory, the value of scientific research. The results showed that the value of place memory, experience participation, architectural cultural background, educational value,and professional research value were slightly lower. Put forward the countermeasures for the deep development of cultural tourism in Ciqikou ancient town of Chongqing.

British India's Partition: Critiquing Entanglements of Memory and Catastrophe of Places

British India's Partition: Critiquing Entanglements of Memory and Catastrophe of Places

How Diversity and Accessibility Affect Street Vitality in Historic Districts?

The loss of traditional features and place memory, and ultimately vibrancy in historic districts, has attracted substantial attention in today’s urban design. Most conventional theories are of the consensus that diversity and accessibility characteristics play important roles in creating street vitality, whereas how these characteristics influence street vitality in historic districts has not been thoroughly explored. Furthermore, it is less clear as to which characteristics exert greater influence. Taking the Drum Tower Muslim District, a historical neighborhood in Xi’an, China, as a case study, this paper employs geospatial data to examine how diversity and accessibility influence street vitality. This study identifies seven factors of diversity and accessibility, and incorporates them into a spatial multivariate regression model for analysis. The results indicate that accessibility makes a stronger impact on the street vitality than diversity does. Furthermore, the closeness of streets, the functional density, the intersection density, the location of public transportation and the density of public infrastructure are the top five factors influencing street vitality. The outcome of this study will shed light on what constitutes a vibrant historic district and will help to inform us as to where and how we can improve street vitality.

Cultural Streetscape: Its Value-System, Space and Significance in Oyo Town, Nigeria

Cultural streetscape is a remarkable street scene that embodies the local culture. It helps in defining and defending urban forms, improves the physical, economic, and socio-cultural mechanisms of urban streets, provides street views for buildings, and shares communal activities and identities. Streetscape is a significant and multi-dynamic component of urban design that contributes to the success of cities and towns. However, as a result of constant urbanization and neglect, African streets that were previously sites of different cultural expressions and local beliefs are quickly turning into areas devoid of local values and meaning. More so, the significance of a cultural streetscape that facilitates ingenious street views, solves ecological challenges, and retains the local memory of places is becoming scarce in the literature. Through an in-depth interview, analysis of pertinent academic outputs, and firsthand observation of the core residential areas of Oyo town, this study revealed the value and significance of cultural streetscape in building, shaping, preserving and sustaining local place identity. Proper archiving and infusion of cultural streetscape elements into the old and new streets design are necessary to ensure Yoruba place identity does not completely become void.

The symbol carving process as a mnemonic manipulator of ‘deep’ genealogy in Early Medieval Scotland

ABSTRACTScotland’s corpus of Early Medieval carved stone monuments is a rich dataset for explorations of cultural connections, power and ideology. This article explores how meaning and significance might be interpreted from the reuse of prehistoric stone monuments in the Pictish period via close examination of the materiality, landscape and transformation processes of one case study from Nether Corskie, Aberdeenshire. Technologies of transformation of the existing stone are considered and contextualized as evidence of contemporary concerns and manipulations of concepts and memories of genealogy, ancestry and place.

Speaking territories in the cultural landscape: Challenges of transformation in the Central Europe

<abstract> <p>Cultural landscape is a concept that characterizes the diversity of forms, urban structure, historical value and symbolic function, reflecting the fact that a cultural landscape is a materialized system that carries a variety of verbal, visual and physical aspects of human existence. This scientific paper is based on a definition of cultural landscape that consists of cultural layers which are often associated with the memory of place, and our research is based on Taylor's definition and exploration of cultural landscapes. In terms of the linear dimension of human history, cultures interact, sometimes destroy and forget, but at the same time, the cultural layers are stacked, layered and acquired in various forms and features. The methodology is based on a qualitative case study with focus on challenges connected with transformation and recovery of area that carries traumatic legacy of the past. In the conclusion, the state of historical revitalization is presented.</p> </abstract>

Bar jako významné místo v migraci

This paper presents the results of a six-month-long field research conducted in the capital of the Czech Republic in 2013. It is based on the research of a bar visited by Anglophone migrants. It aims to reveal how becoming a bar regular helped migrants to adapt to the new country and maintain their lives there. The studied group of migrants placed important practices into the space of the bar, through which they formed their meaning and memory in a new place, their new home. They domesticated the place to the extent that they had their own seats, glasses, and any newcomer, whether Czech or migrant, was observed and evaluated. The bar played the role of an intimate space; it was home-like and it was socially and materially changed by the migrants. The bar was a place where the migrants’ social bonds were performed and materialised. It was a place in the time and space of real physi­cal contact within a migratory network.

Perineuronal nets affect memory and learning after synapse withdrawal

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) enwrap mature neurons, playing a role in the control of plasticity and synapse dynamics. PNNs have been shown to have effects on memory formation, retention and extinction in a variety of animal models. It has been proposed that the cavities in PNNs, which contain synapses, can act as a memory store and that they remain stable after events that cause synaptic withdrawal such as anoxia or hibernation. We examine this idea by monitoring place memory before and after synaptic withdrawal caused by acute hibernation-like state (HLS). Animals lacking hippocampal PNNs due to enzymatic digestion by chondroitinase ABC or knockout of the PNN component aggrecan were compared with wild type controls. HLS-induced synapse withdrawal caused a memory deficit, but not to the level of untreated naïve animals and not worsened by PNN attenuation. After HLS, only animals lacking PNNs showed memory restoration or relearning. Absence of PNNs affected the restoration of excitatory synapses on PNN-bearing neurons. The results support a role for hippocampal PNNs in learning, but not in long-term memory storage for correction of deficits.

Combined effects of the contraceptive hormones, ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel, on the use of place and response memory in gonadally-intact female rats

During maze navigation rats can rely on hippocampus-mediated place memory or striatum-mediated response memory. Ovarian hormones bias whether females use place or response memory to reach a reward. Here, we investigated the impact of the contraceptive hormones, ethinyl estradiol (EE) and levonorgestrel (LNG), on memory bias. A total of 63 gonadally-intact female rats were treated with either 10 μg/kg of EE alone, 20 μg/kg of LNG alone, both 10 μg/kg of EE and 20 μg/kg of LNG together, or a sesame oil injection with 5% ethanol as a vehicle control. Rats in the control condition were tested during the diestrus phase of the estrous cycle in order to control for the low circulating levels of gonadotropin and ovarian hormones that occur with oral contraceptive administration. Rats treated with LNG alone had a bias towards the use of place memory compared to diestrus phase control rats. This bias was not observed if LNG was administered in combination with EE. Rats treated with EE or EE+LNG did not have a statistically significant difference in memory bias compared to rats in the control group. These data show that synthetic hormones contained in oral contraceptives administered to females influence which cognitive strategy is predominantly used during navigation.

Supplemental Material for Rich and Sparse Figurative Information in Children’s Memory for Colorful Places

Supplemental Material for Rich and Sparse Figurative Information in Children’s Memory for Colorful Places

Buddhist homeland(s), memory and the politics of belonging in South Asia

ABSTRACT In recent centuries, the concept of an ‘original’ Buddhist homeland located in India and Nepal has come to mark the aspirations, identities, histories, and memories of diverse Buddhist communities and nation-states. In this Introduction to the Special Issue, we examine some of the ways Buddhist homeland narratives are used to (re)build ties to physical and imagined landscapes of belonging and how these discourses intersect with certain claims to identity, citizenship, and belonging in modern South Asia. Two themes are particularly evident in our analysis: the memory of place and geography, and the ongoing importance of religion in the sphere of politics.

Exploring Tourists’ Multilevel Spatial Cognition of Historical Town Based on Multi-Source Data—A Case Study of Feng Jing Ancient Town in Shanghai

Conducting research on the spatial cognition of tourists in historical towns helps to balance cultural heritage protection and tourism development. However, the current tourist cognition research is not comprehensive enough in terms of data sources, time dimension, and spatial objects. This research takes Fengjing Ancient Town in Shanghai as an example, and through multi-source data analysis explores how tourists’ perception and cognition of the attractions changes, discusses the impacts of characteristic of spatial system and elements on perception, and then establishes a spatial cognition analysis framework involving time dimension, cognitive depth, and spatial type. On-site aerial photos, Sina Weibo check-in data, tourist memory maps, and photos from tourism websites were used to classify tourists’ spatial cognition through content analysis, theme classification, and GIS spatial analysis. This research finds that tourists have formed three cognitive levels in the travel process, from “initial spatial consciousness” to “place memory” then to “imagery perception”. Meanwhile, space is the most important object of tourists’ cognition, and it is also the carrier of other intangible cultures. In terms of spatial cognition and ancient town tourism, this research finds the tourists’ spatial cognition of Fengjing Ancient Town is related to the main river and main tourist routes that represent the image characteristics of the ancient town. This research shows that clear boundaries of tourism space, richer folk activities, and more sequential tourism routes could help tourists form a more systematic spatial cognition. Based on the findings, this research also establishes an analysis and application framework of tourists’ multilevel spatial cognition to provide optimization suggestions for development of tourism.

Review: Moveable Gardens: Itineraries and Sanctuaries of Memory, edited by Virginia D. Nazarea and Terese Gagnon

Review: <i>Moveable Gardens: Itineraries and Sanctuaries of Memory</i>, edited by Virginia D. Nazarea and Terese Gagnon

Exploring “Elsewhereland” — Places Desired, Remembered and Dwelled: Place experience of vacationers on Saaremaa Island, Estonia

This paper examines summer vacationers’ experiences and connections with an island place on Saaremaa in Estonia. Discourse from sixteen in-depth interviews are coupled with a theoretical discussion exploring place, emotions, memory, and self through an analysis of personal narratives on individual emotional perspectives of meaningful places, memory of places elsewhere, and the materiality of the cultural landscape itself. Emotional aspects associated with verbal expressions are examined with a discussion of emergent themes of place experience via a literary narrative writing approach. The emotional dynamics of rhetorical conversation between interviewees, researcher, and place echoed through the shared materiality of people and their environment. Personal narratives of place meanings examine island environments through emotional individual experiences resulting in five themes: places desired, places remembered, lost and found, elsewhereness and home, and returns. Home, everyday, and elsewhere are intertwined impressions of island places memorised, balanced via expressions of belonging as experiences of everyday and nostalgic renderings of times lost.

The Memory of Place in the Songs of the First Intifada (The Hijarah Intifada): A Neo-historicist Perspective.

The Memory of Place in the Songs of the First Intifada (The Hijarah Intifada): A Neo-historicist Perspective.

The role of progesterone in memory bias during spatial navigation in females.

Rats can use several memory systems to navigate a maze toward a reward. Two of these are place memory and response memory and female rats can be biased to predominantly use one over another. Both progesterone and estrogens have been shown to alter memory bias. Although the effects of estrogens have been well documented, the effects of progesterone remain somewhat unexplored. Mechanisms through which progesterone may be acting to exert its effects are reviewed here. Converging evidence suggests that the actions of progesterone differ depending on the presence of estrogens, frequently acting in opposition to estrogens when administered together. The hippocampus, dorsal striatum, and prefrontal cortex are likely involved, as is the progesterone metabolite, allopregnanolone. There is a need for more research on progesterone and memory bias, especially considering current formulations of hormonal contraceptives include progestins.