Re-constructing the research frame of Human Geography from perspectives of New Cultural Geography

By reviewing the two research frames appearing in the textbooks of Human Geography The Human Mosaic by Terry G. Jordan and Human Geography: Culture, Society, and Space(6 th edition ) by de Blij et al., the author indicates that although the Chinese textbooks of Human Geography have drawn on and accepted the Jordan's frame, this frame still belongs to the traditional human geography which stresses too much on cultural ecology and the Saurian cultural landscape school. However, the frame cited in de Blij's above-mentioned book, which is originally from the National Research Council in US,shows some fresh issues and perspectives in current Human Geography. The development of New Cultural Geography has made it necessary and emergent to construct a new research agenda which can be integrated with both the old and the new human geographies. This article tries to use and redefine five concepts:attributes',spaces',times',approaches' and worlds' to build a research frame, namely ASTAW frame. With this ASTAW frame, the author expects that Human Geography as a discipline will be more systematic and more easily understood by non-geographers. This frame can be also expected to be used in active academic researches esp. on issues in a changing reality. ASTAW frame is essentially based on new cultural geographies' epistemology, approaches and world views. In this frame, the boundary of subjects esp. the boundary between Geography and Human Geography has been understated intentionally. Cultural and social factors influencing the order of nature are emphasized in the frame. The idea of regarding scientific positivism as just one of all human being's wisdom is highlighted in the paper. Therefore, the new research issues in Human Geography as well as Geography will also focus on the representational world rather than just on the real world or physical world which is usually thought of independent on human being and which is traditionally the research core of scientific geography. Spatial study and representational study in new Geography and Human Geography will emphasize the approaches of cultural studies rather than just study the cultural items in traditional and scientific spatial research perspective. The author expects this paper on the new construction of research frame of human geography will attract more attention on the cultural turn of geography and the new cultural geography in China's academic field.