Walking and talking : topographies of memory in Kingston-upon-Hull

Roberts, Tegwen

Abstract

This thesis explores the relationships between different memory narratives within the unglamorous, everyday spaces of the city, drawing upon ideas of memory as a fluid and dynamic process that is under constant negotiation. It is increasingly argued that we can read places as possessing multiple, overlapping temporalities that have the potential to erupt or dissolve at any time. Therefore social memory should not be considered a predetermined narrative based upon shared pasts and associated with (and represented by) specific sites. Instead, the production of memory should be recognised as an ongoing process, constantly (re)formed by interaction with a range of narratives and traces of the past that are encountered through everyday spatial practice. Using in-depth empirical research from Kingston-upon-Hull; a modern, post-industrial British city, the thesis argues that the city's everyday spaces should be seen as part of wider topographies of memory. It goes on to explore how these topographies might be interrogated through acombination of traditional and more innovative methodologies, using both visual and participatory techniques (including photo-elicitation and walking practices) along with personal accounts and oral histories, to trace the production of memory across a range of everyday spaces. Central to this work is the development of a virtual walking tour methodology which, it is argued, presents new possibilities for engaging with different memory processes across the wider city.

Citation

Roberts, T. Walking and talking : topographies of memory in Kingston-upon-Hull. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4212896

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 29, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Keywords: Geography
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4212896
• Additional Information: Department of Geography, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Sep 1, 2010