The Geographical Unconscious

This ambitious and innovative volume stretches over time and space, over the history of modernity in relation to antiquity, between East and West, to offer insights into what the author terms the 'geographical unconscious.' She argues that, by tapping into this, we can contribute towards the reinstatement of some kind of morality and justice in today's troubled world. Approaching selected moments from ancient times to the present of Greek cultural and aesthetic geographies on the basis of a wide range of sources, the book examines diachronic spatiotemporal flows, some of which are mainly cultural, others urban or landscape-related, in conjunction with parallel currents of change and key issues of our time in the West more generally, but also in the East. In doing so, The Geographical Unconscious reflects on visual and spatial perceptions through the ages; it re-considers selective affinities plus differences and identifies enduring age-old themes, while stressing the deep ancient wisdom, the disregarded relevance of the aesthetic, and the unity between human senses, nature, and space. The analysis provides new insights towards the spatial complexities of the current age, the idea of Europe, of the East, the West, and their interrelations, as well as the notion of modernity.

Dr Argyro Loukaki is Associate Professor, Hellenic Open University, and Head of Department of Archaeological Works, 1st Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, Greek Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Greece.

Contents: Introduction; Part I Archetypal Spatialities: The space of heroes; Sappho: light and the sacred cosmologies of the human body. Part II Byzantine Participatory Spatialities and Modern Art: Byzantine art, Cubism, Surrealism; Mediterranean fermentations in early modernity: El Greco's Mare Meum. Part III Modernity as Urban Visual Experience: Paris-Patras: modern urban geographies of visual elation. Part IV Cosmopolitan Modernisms and the East: F.L. Wright, D. Pikionis and N. Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas: Japanese space as archetype and unconscious; Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan; Dimitris Pikionis, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas and the East. Part V Past-Future Space: Baroque cyberspatialities; In place of conclusions: space and vision: retraining and rebooting; Bibliography; Index.