Affective Geographies of Transformation Exploration and Adventure

<p>Combining critical reflections from scholars around the globe as well as experiential records from some of the world’s most tenacious explorers, this book interrogates the concept of the ‘frontier’ as a realm of transformation, exploration and adventure. </p><p></p><p>We discover the affective power of social, physical, spiritual and political frontiers in shaping humanity’s abilities to change and become. We collectively unpack the enduring conceptualization of the frontier as a site of nation-state identity formation, violent colonization, masculine prowess and the triumph of progress. In its place, this book charts a more complex and subtle emotional geography amidst an array of frontiers: the expanding human psyche that is induced under free-diving narcosis and tales of survival on one of the most technically difficult mountains in the world, ‘The Ogre’. Chapters consider solitude in the Sahara, near-death experiences in Tibetan Buddhism, the aftermath of a volcanic eruption in Bali, the Spanish Imaginary, snatched moments of sexual curiosity, and many more. </p><p></p><p>This book will be of upmost importance to researchers working on theories of affect, the Anthropocene, frontier theory and human geography. It will be vital supplementary reading for undergraduates and postgraduates on courses such as Heritage Studies, Human and Cultural Geography, Anthropology, Tourism Studies and History.</p> <p>Part I: Transformation 1: Taboo Desires? James Baldwin, African Americans, Homo-Eroticism and the Frontiers of Mind/Place/Race and Sex<b> 2:</b> The Spanish Imaginary: A Trilogy of Frontiers<b> 3:</b> Under a Volcano: A Journey through Ruin and Regeneration in Bali<b> 4: </b>Facing a New Frontier: Defining Nature and Culture within Dinosaur Parks in Europe<b> Part II: Exploration</b><i> </i><b>5:</b> The Ogre<i> </i><b>6: </b>Kelakua<b> 7: </b>‘Challenging Demoniacal Beings’: Extinction, Materialities and the Mortal Frontier in the Journeys of Alexandra David-Neel<b> 8: </b>Everest and the Himalaya: The Evolution of Mountain Travel and Exploration<b> Part III: Adventure 9: </b>Freefalling the Water Column: Raptures and Ruptures of the Deep<b> 10:</b> Women Mountaineers and Affect: Fear, Play and the Unknown<b> 11: </b>‘Frontier Climbing’ in the Wild, Wild East <b>12: </b>On the Trail of the New Frontier: Doing Things the Hard Way in Australian Overland Travel</p>