'In this thoughtful and engaging critique, geographer Martin W. Lewis and historian Kären Wigen reexamine the basic geographical divisions we take for granted, and challenge the unconscious spatial frameworks that govern the way we perceive the world. Arguing that notions of East vs. West, First World vs. Third World, and even the sevenfold continental system are simplistic and misconceived, the authors trace the history of such misconceptions. Their up-to-the-minute study reflects both on the global scale and its relation to the specific continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa—actually part of one contiguous landmass.
The Myth of Continents sheds new light on how our metageographical assumptions grew out of cultural concepts: how the first continental divisions developed from classical times; how the Urals became the division between the so-called continents of Europe and Asia; how countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan recently shifted macroregions in the general consciousness.' - from publisher's website.
Access level

Onsite

Location code
REF.LEM2
Language

English

Keyword
Publication/Creation date

1997

No of pages

344

ISBN / ISSN

9780520207431

No of copies

1

Content type

monograph

Chapter headings

Introduction

The Architecture of Continents

The Spatial Constructs of Orient and Occident, East and West

The Cultural Constructs of Orient and Occident, East and West

Eurocentrism and Afrocentrism

Global Geography in the Historical Imagination

World Regions: An Alternative Scheme

Conclusion: Toward a Critical Metageography

The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography
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The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography

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