The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography

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If you consider geography an objective science, think again. According to Martin W. Lewis and Karen E. Wigen, even the concept of continents is open to interpretation. Why, for example, do Europeans consider their little peninsula a whole continent while the vast territories of India and China are mere subcontinents? Contrast this worldview with that of the Indian mapmakers who depicted South Asia as the world's largest land mass and Europe as marginalized "hat-wearing islands." During the Cold War, the world was even further divided, this time into first, second, and third worlds. But how you classify the various regions of the world, Lewis and Wigen posit in The Myth of Continents, depends very much on where you happen to be standing at the time.

Having bravely exposed the ethnocentrism at the heart of geography, Lewis and Wigen then offer up their own division of the globe based on "world regions" rather than continents. Under such a scheme, Europe would become Western Eurasia, while the Western Hemisphere would become North America, Ibero-America, and African-America (divisions based on linguistic, cultural, and/or racial criteria). Whether or not you agree with the authors' division of the world, The Myth of Continents is a lively and thought-provoking exploration of a subject many of us take for granted. After reading this book, you'll never look at a map of the world in quite the same way.

Book Description

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.
This extremely readable and thought-provoking analysis also explores the ways that new economic regions, the end of the cold war, and the proliferation of communication technologies change our understanding of the world. It stimulates thinking about the role of large-scale spatial constructs as driving forces behind particular worldviews and encourages everyone to take a more thoughtful, geographically informed approach to the task of describing and interpreting the human diversity of the planet.

Customer Reviews:

Continental divides.......2003-04-28

This stimulating challenge to conventional geography should be an essential ingredient to your next upgrade of your metageographical basics, world history as one for a change. The book is a nice debriefing of the several myths that distort that history. One of the main culprits is the East-West divide, whose illusory divide as to culture obsesses too many, butis one of the chief offenders, along with the notion of a 'western civilization' whose boundaries, content and latent ethnocentricism deserve a reminder that the East was always built into the West and vice versa. The Greek myth of Europa was always misleading, no? and isn't the realm of the Israelites the East, then?
One of the liabilities of Toynbean style analysis into 'civilizations' has been the failure to see the inherent unity of one 'Civilization' emerging in a series of partially diffentiated versions, rendering the many distinctions misleading, and quite tribalistic. A good example is the case of Japan which modernized sooner than much of Europe, it is a question of 'information', not of continents.
Fascinating take on 'metageography' and a good rolfing of some archaic concepts we take for granted.

"East is East and West is West..........2002-03-27

...and never the twain shall meet." Kipling was wrong about that. This fascinating book shows how culture and world-view influenced not just Kipling and others of the past, but continues to do so with us today. Our maps, both mental and otherwise, are largely shaped by our own realities. Indeed the authors argue we are all unwitting believers in THE MYTH OF CONTINENTS. The metageography that this book critiques is defined as "the set of spatial structures through which people order their knowledge of the world." Such structures are arbitrary, but it's not just continents. It extends to world regions, culture areas, zones, and even civilizations. Also any depiction in atlases, on globes, in texts, and on political maps. It's all extremely subjective.

One of the strengths of this book is how it shows these artificial views emerging, changing, and adjusting to the dynamism and power of cultures. The concept of the continent of Europe is directly connected to the power of that region. Why else, the authors ask, should India be a sub-continent and China only a part of Asia? "In physical, cultural and historical diversity, China and India are comparable to the entire European landmass, not to a single European country."

The book traces the origins of the continental system from Herodotus through Ptolemy, the Romans, Medieval Europe to the Age of Discovery and beyond. The whole idea of what defined a continent (large landmass seperated by water) was always very fungible. The authors say that as late as 1599 "any reasonable large body of land or even island group might be deemed a continent". They give the example of a geographer referring to the West Indies as a "large and fruitful continent". The West Indies themselves are a perfect example of perception dictating form. We know that the "Indies" part came about because Columbus thought he had arrived in the East. The metageographies of West and East then are concepts that, like continents, are open to criticism. So too are the New and Old worlds, the First and Third Worlds (was there ever a Second World?) The same vagueness surrounds the North and the South, the Occident and Orient, Far East, Middle East, South Asia and the Pacific Rim.

In offering their own system for organizing human space the authors replace continents with "world regions". Arnold Toynbee and more recently Samuel Huntinton's system of using civilizations as the organizing principle gets a nod from the authors. In the classification they use, Europe is now "Western Eurasia", "African-America" includes not just the West Indies but the entire Caribbean and North-Eastern Brazil. North America remains and Ibero-America emerges.

Obviously geographers will thoroughly enjoy this book but it has a much broader appeal. Wherever we are in the world we use some of the terms above to describe our place. If nothing else this book will make us all a little more aware of how we define ourselves and others.

better than Edward Said or Samuel Huntington.......2000-07-13

I'm surprised to be the first to review this book. It was recommended to me a couple of years ago by a professor and I've only now gotten around to reading it: it's definitely one of the best books I've read recently.

As the title suggests, the book explores the myth of continents. The authors show the origin of the idea of the continent in ancient Greece and show its continued use throughout the centuries even as the addition of the Americas and Australia to the world map caused more and more incongruities with the original Greek and medieval world system.

The authors also look at the concepts of 'East' and 'West' and the similarly overused (but underdefined) 'Orient' and 'Occident', arguing against Edward Said for the continuation of a world divided into geographical regions, albeit ones that does not draw upon geographical determinism or cartographic ethnocentrism. Unlike Samuel Huntington they stress their world regions (i.e. African-America and Central Asia) as not always coherent territories with distinct borders. Agreeing with Herodotus and Toynbee about the need to examine the continental system, they thoroughly discuss the philosophical and political views of continents in recent centuries, looking at Rousseau, Herder, Hegel, Montesquieu, H.G. Wells, J. Burckhardt, Wallerstein and others.

This book is so good at deconstructing the built-up assumptions of the aforementioned terms that I hesistate to list any faults, although I should at least mention that I would have liked a few more maps and a separate section on how and why the authors chose each world region and its borders (i.e. why not a separate region for Madagascar).

Book Description

This stimulating monograph challenges the 2001 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that indicates a significant increase in carbon dioxide levels and prescribes worldwide policies for curbing global warming. With an in-depth look at the IPCC report itself, this examination argues that the quality and reliability of the IPCC’s measurements are poor, the system of determining how much weight should be attributed to different influences on the earth’s temperature is faulty, and the validity of evidence derived from computer modeling is questionable. By challenging the IPCC’s methodology and results, this pointed assessment has far-reaching consequences for the effectiveness of policy decisions regarding global warming and rising carbon dioxide levels made by the IPCC and other organizations.

Literature, Nature, and Other: Ecofeminist Critiques

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Literature, Nature, and Other: Ecofeminist Critiques
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This book offers a critique of contemporary ecology, which could be applied to any discipline. Author Peters contends that science is a device to offer information about nature through predictions, but that a substantial part of ecology cannot be science because it provides no concrete information and much of the rest of ecology provides data of such poor quality that it can only be called soft science. Although instances of these deficiencies have often been identified, the pervasiveness of the problem has not been fully acknowledged, nor have the similarities among different problem areas been appreciated. If ecology and environmental science are to grow to meet the needs of the present decade and next millennium, scientists in these fields will need much more acute critical abilities than they have yet demonstrated. Professor Peters argues specifically that a return to simple questions of fact, to observations, and to questions of general relevance to science and society can make ecology a useful, practical, and informative science, which is desperately needed to meet the problems of our age. This thought-provoking and perhaps controversial book will be of particular interest to ecologists, but all scientists, from undergraduates to senior academics and professionals, can benefit from reading it.

Customer Reviews:

A welcome discussion of major issues in ecology.......2000-04-11

This book takes on some of the fundamental assumptions (and misperceptions) that are commonly presented in Ecology and Environmental Studies. Writing in a clear and forthright manner Peters lays out philosophical underpinnings of many of the "sacred cows" that all too often get tossed out to eager students by reluctant, unwilling professors who have been drafted into teaching "General Ecology" when they would much rather be doing their research. These cows then wander off and become fixed features of High School texts & wind up before legislators as accepted wisdom, rather than the tentative (and often ill-formed) hypotheses that they are. Peters is to be commended by both the strength and range of his arguments. This should be "must reading" for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Essential for all ecologists.......1998-02-27

A masterpiece. A devastating, but constructive, account of what's wrong with ecological science. It has changed my whole approach to the subject - I can't speak too highly of this book; everyone should read it

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London's unsparing look at the lure (and danger) of alcohol.......2004-05-26

The novelist and adventurer Jack London was an alcoholic at an early age. This colorful memoir -- one of the first in America to treat the issue of alcohol abuse -- was written to encourage the prohibition efforts of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. London does condemn the overuse of alcohol, but his barroom tales make an equally strong case for its allure. The emphasis London places on the reasons why people drink, and drink to excess, fills this book with exciting characters and locales -- "the cameraderie of drink" is London's own phrase, as another reviewer notes. This personal revelation by one of America's premier adventure writers must have been shocking to a nation that viewed its drunks with a fairly tolerant eye. It is certainly an important book for those interested in the literature of alcohol abuse in this country.

A Uniquely Candid Autobiography.......2001-11-26

Following the worst of London's alcoholic periods he wrote this autobiography beginning with his first taste of alcohol, his first experience at being drunk,and his first hangover-all at the age of five. London went on to "earn his manhood spurs" through hard drinking at the steamy waterfront bars on the San Francisco Bay. Claiming never to have acquired a taste for the stuff, London stresses the important role of the saloon in cultivating alcoholism in young men. He brings to vivid life the romantic allure of a place full of sailors with names like Whiskey Bob, whose stories of 'round-the-world journeys, barroom brawls, and dangerous sea adventures mingled with the "comaraderie of drink." At once a highly personal work of intense emotional power and an unsparing social commentary on the evils of drink, this masterpiece of autobiographical literature first stunned a world audience in 1913, and today continues to strike a resounding contemporary note.

John Barleycorn Or, Alcoholic Memoirs: Jack London

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John Barleycorn: "Alcoholic Memoirs" (Oxford World's Classics)

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beautiful prose
Pleasantly Jingled
Drinking and the author's life
Jack London's "Alcoholic Memoirs".
London's White Logic

John Barleycorn: "Alcoholic Memoirs" (Oxford World's Classics)
Jack London
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Published in 1913, this harrowing, autobiographical 'A to Z' of drinking shattered London's reputation as a clean-living adventurer and massively successful author of such books as White Fang and The Call of the Wild.

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It all came to me one election day. It was on a warm California afternoon, and I had ridden down into the Valley of the Moon from the ranch to the little village to vote Yes and No to a host of proposed amendments to the Constitution of the State of California. Because of the warmth of the day I had had several drinks before casting my ballot, and divers drinks after casting it.

Customer Reviews:

beautiful prose.......2007-05-02

Jack London is the author that I admire the most among the American authors and this memoir, like his other works I read, gave me great reading pleasure. His life started in poverty, he lived a life of struggle and adventure, alcohol was always present as he grew up, and he felt obliged to drink to fit in the macho social environment, eventually developing a heavy drinking habit. In John Barleycorn he tells his story honestly, he describes the surroundings and characters around him beautifully, and especially his psychological descriptions are superb. In one part, while he was drunk and going by himself on a sloop at night, he falls in the water and he describes how all of a sudden he found himself thinking about committing suicide:

"Thoughts of suicide had never entered my head. And now that they entered, I thought it fine, a splendid culmination, a perfect rounding off of my short but exciting career. I, who had never known a girl's love, nor woman's love, nor the love of children; who had never played in the wide joy-fields of art, nor climbed the star-cool heights of philosophy, nor seen with my eyes more than a pin-point's surface of the gorgeous world; I decided that this was all, that I had seen all, lived all, been all, that was worth while, and that now was the time to cease.....The water was delicious. It was a man's way to die. It was a hero's death, and by the hero's own hand and will."

Such is the depth of his character descriptions, such is the way he reflects the mood beautifully. A "must read".

Pleasantly Jingled.......2007-01-11

`John Barleycorn' is the so-called "Alcoholic memoirs" of American literary icon Jack London. John Barleycorn was London's nickname for booze, and his relationship with Mr. Barleycorn is one of love/hate. In spite of the sub-title, London persists throughout this drunken autobiography that he is not an alcoholic. Nevertheless, he eloquently chronicles his tumultuous drinking career with the goal of demonstrating the enormous toll that alcohol can take on the mind, body, and spirit. At times, he glorifies his drinking, but for the most part he seems to resent this seductive destroyer of men, and claims that the only reason he drinks so much is because it is everywhere. He sees drinking as sort of a social obligation, a manly thing to do around other men. Not only does he resent it, but he concludes that prohibition is the only way to stop the destructive force of alcohol.

`John Barleycorn' is not only a story about the effects of alcohol on one man's life, but it is also an adventurous tale of one of America's first celebrities rise from rags to riches. The narrative begins with London's poverty-stricken childhood in San Francisco, continues through his teenage years as a brawling oyster pirate, and on into his adult years as a celebrated writer and passionate socialist. The prose is magnificent, and although `John Barleycorn" was highly entertaining, there is also a sense of sadness for me because I know first-hand how agonizing this type of life can be. With that said, this is a fantastic piece of American literature.

Drinking and the author's life.......2006-02-20

I was tempted into reading this book after finishing London's "Martin Eden", a somewhat autobiographical work of fiction. "John Barleycorn" purports to be more a striaght autobiography that focuses on the role of alcohol in London's life from his first tentative introduction at the age of five to his millde-career as a celebrity author.

Since it is autobiographical and there is no "plot", per se, it was a bit less interesting than "Martin Eden", in that I wasn't quite compelled to turn the page to see what happened next. However, he end of the book makes the intial effort worthwhile. London confronts "death" as a character, having philosophocal discussions with it. These conversations are dark and intellectauly compelling. Turns out that, for London, alcohol was a force promoting death and the contemplation of death.

If you're interested in getting inside the head of one of America's classic authors, John barleycorn is your ticket there.

Jack London's "Alcoholic Memoirs"........2005-09-29

_John Barleycorn_ by American writer Jack London is a semi-autobiographical novel which deals with Jack London's experiences with alcohol, nicknamed "John Barleycorn" throughout this novel. Jack London was a rugged adventurer who was born into poverty and only became wealthy after his success as a novelist. His early experiences, which he writes about in this novel, were particularly important in the shaping of his thought and writings. London was a very thoughtful writer and all of his writings are philosophical in nature. Philosophically London was influenced by such thinkers as Charles Darwin (and his notion of the "survival of the fittest"), Friedrich Nietzsche (whose superman ideal is seen in London's ultra-masculine heroic characters), and William James (whose psychological theories regarding religion play an important part in the writing of this book). London was a devout socialist (he had been born into poverty and witnessed firsthand the oppression of the working class and the poor by the capitalists); however, his socialism is highly idiosyncratic in that all of his heroes are rugged individualists. London also recognized the harm that alcohol had done to himself and to youth of his generation which led him to believe that Prohibition was necessary (although he continued to drink). While London insists that he is not an alcoholic or dipsomaniac, his experiences with alcohol show the harmful effects that it had upon him.

_John Barleycorn_ began as a suggestion from London's second wife, Charmian, that he write about his experiences with alcohol. London, who had originally opposed woman's suffrage, had just voted for a bill that would give women the vote because he believed that women would vote for Prohibition. Indeed, the novel _John Barleycorn_ became popular with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Prohibition Party which actively campaigned for Prohibition. While London could not have foreseen some of the more disastrous consequences of Prohibition, such as the formation of the mob and organized crime, he certainly understood the dangers that alcohol posed because he had experienced them firsthand.

_John Barleycorn_ relates the adventures of the young Jack London beginning with his earliest experiences with alcohol as a young lad of only five years old. London had been born into poverty and forced to work in a cannery. London, being an adventurous sort with an active mind, grew dissatisfied with his life of toil, and eventually became an oyster pirate. It was at this point where his first real encounters with alcohol and saloon life began. London describes his adventures as an oyster pirate along with his experiences at the saloons and the subtle rules that accompanied the drinking game. Eventually London returned to steady work; however, he quickly experienced the immoralities of the capitalist system when he was asked to shovel coal and made to work the job of two men. London relates further adventures in which he became an unemployed vagrant and was arrested for vagrancy and a gold prospector in the Yukon. London also shows how "John Barleycorn" came to play an important role in his life, as a means for easing social relationships. London also describes his experiences with school and how he attained his education (including a year at the university level) through extreme efforts. London makes use of Viking imagery throughout many of his descriptive passages showing his love for adventure and Nordic folklore. Eventually London was to make his way in the world as an author and he became very wealthy doing so. Later when London had achieved both wealth and fame he was to take a series of voyages to Hawaii, the Tropics, and the South Seas which served as an impetus for new stories. During this time, London became "sun sick" and took to drink to ease his troubles brought on by the tropical climate and the diseases that accompanied it. When London returned home he continued drinking heavily. London describes his encounters with "the White Logic", a gloomy depression brought on by drink, his alcoholic reveries and philosophical musings, and his encounters with death ("the Noseless One"). Indeed, the thought of suicide was to plague London for much of his life. At one point London decided that he would stop drinking; however, he eventually realized that he was unable to do so and decides that he will continue to drink in moderation. However, he came to believe that Prohibition was necessary to prevent the harmful effects of alcohol on the youth. While London argues that he is not an alcoholic, it is clear however that alcohol has had a profound effect on his constitution and mind.

_John Barleycorn_ is a fascinating adventure novel which traces Jack London's life from the time he was a young boy into his adult years as a famous writer. The novel also shows the harmful effects of alcohol on London and shows the need for restraint. Like a great deal of London's work, this novel reveals London's defining social conscience which framed so much of his thinking. In addition, it provides for a fascinating read and is a great source of entertainment.

London's White Logic.......2003-03-26

With all the gushy, cliche-ridden, Recovery oriented self-help books teeming in the bookstores these days, it's always refreshing to find a well-written, lyrical account of of an author's love/hate affair with alcohol. This said, the book hardly seems one to be recommended by AA or the temperance movement. Although, as pointed out by another reviewer, the author equivocates in usually one or two line disclaimers after long passages in which he narrates an alcoholic episode, the overall effect almost amounts to an apotheosis of alcohol and its effects. Indeed, it is personified in the book by what London calls "The White logic," and the most moving, lyrical and philosophical passages are given to this "character" in the book.

Consider the following quotes about "him" and his effects:

"He is the august companion with whom one walks with the gods."

"And every thought was a vision, bright-imaged, sharp-cut, unmistakable. My brain was illuminated by the clear, white light of alcohol."

Most importantly consider what "he" says:

"Let the doctors of all schools condemn me....What of it? I am truth. You know it....Life lies in order to live. Life is a perpetual lie-telling process. Life is a mad dance in the domain of flux, wherein appearances in mighty tides ebb and flow...You are such an appearance, composed of countless appearances out of the past. All an appearance can know is mirage."

I don't think so great a poet as Shelley could have put this ghastly vision of life more powerfully in prose form, though he does in verse, in his last, ironically titled poem, The Triumph Of Life.

I don't know whom London thought he might be fooling here with his mild calls for Prohibition pitted against the Romance and lyricism he associates with his drinking episodes and, above all, the profoundly counterbalancing effect of "the White Logic." The book is ultimately an autobiography of this voice within him.

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John Barleycorn: Alcoholic Memoirs
Jack London
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKKUHO

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