More-Than-Representational Theories in Geography: Problematizing the Dialectic Between Representation and Presentation

Abstract

This article seeks to recover Nigel Thrift’s contributions to a “Geography of what happens”, emphasizing his problematization of more-than-representational theories. It also aims to focus on the affinities between phenomenological and more-than-representational approaches, in order to deepen the dialectic between presentation and representation towards a reflection on how a “Geography of what happens” should be based on the body and corporeality to account for the world as event and movement, based on examples from the field of performing arts. It attempts to reflect on the methodological consequences that can unfold/envision for research in human geography, and more particularly in the field of cultural geography, of the dialectic between presentation and representation and how more-than-representational theories can add new elements to the phenomenological/ontological approaches of humanist geography. Finally, I speculate about what the dialogue between Geography and Art indicates as a path towards a cultural approach that takes into account the body and corporeality in our research processes.