Can a human be in reciprocal dialogue with the place? – investigation in Austin, Tx, on place dialogue

Keywords: sense of place, place dialogue, more-than-human approach, communication
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 28

Abstract

It is easy to imagine that the urban settlement is full of places that are meaningful and created through the content put there by humans and human perceptions of that content. In recent years, however, ideas have been emerging that relate the idea of place in a different way and bring discussions of place closer to a more-than-human perspective. On the one hand, there is the narrative of place as assemblage, and on the other, place is viewed in the context of the more-than-human agency. The aim of the presentation is to look for contemporary human-place relations in an urban settlement from the perspective of a big city dweller. To what extent is place engaged in a symmetrical, reciprocal conversation with the user? In 20 qualitative in-depth interviews with residents of Austin, the capital city of Texas, I sought answers to these questions. Drawing on these interviews and qualitative analysis, I distinguished three ways in which Austin residents construct their relationships with place: 1. subjects who are skeptical of dialogue with a place in an urban settlement, 2. subjects who open the field of discussion about dialogue with place 3. subjects who deepen the essence of dialogue with place.