DEAD, LIVING AND SPECTRAL GEOGRAPHIES: WAYS OF APPREHENDING SPACE

Abstract

This epistemological article presents and analyzes the differences and congruences of three modes of geographic interpretation, namely: dead, living and spectral geographies. It is important to emphasize, in advance, that dead geographies do not denominate themselves: its label is attributed externally, sometimes with a pejorative bias. Here it will be demonstrated that those tree modes of interpretation cannot be understood as hermetic, and that it is necessary to consider that they invariably manifest themselves in a hybrid way. It is also warned, in advance, that the expressions “dead”, “alive” and “spectral” should not create expectations of theological debate; in this case, they are associated with different ways of understanding meanings and practices in geography. The conclusion points to the representativeness of such approaches nowadays, even though the growth of non-representational bases that value the assumptions of living and spectral geographies is notorious.