The space and place of grief in geography: The "Avalanche Lady"

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dc.contributor.authorHutcheson, Gail Yvonneen_NZ
dc.date.accessioned2010-02-16T20:41:40Z
dc.date.available2010-02-16T20:41:40Z
dc.date.issued2009en_NZ
dc.description.abstractThis thesis makes an original contribution to the socio-cultural and emotional geographies literature by focusing on Robyn Gordon's (the Avalanche Lady's ) experiences of grief. I argue that space, place, and emotions are mutually constituted. Thus, geographers are aptly positioned to examine the complexities and contradictions of spatialised emotions. Ideas about space and place do not exist in a vacuum. Also, the two terms, space and place offer geographers more when conceptualised as a complementary pair rather than individually (see Agnew 2005). By drawing on a wide range of contemporary geographical and social science literature, I explore how notions of space and place can be stretched to include the beyond , and how they can be conceptualised as fluid, contingent, and unfinished. In order to convey these new configurations of space and place from within an experience of grief, I employed three key methods. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with Robyn. Further, she created a digital story using photographs, her choice of music and narrative, and kept a research diary. This empirically unique approach enabled me to produce a rich and contextualised account of what grief felt like, and continues to feel like for my respondent. Although grief is often touted as an individual experience, I contend that it radiates out into the wider social milieu through emotional, virtual, national, and international communities. Thus, connections between people and places are made and remade. I found that space, place, and grief interrelate on many levels including, private-public, personal-social, and specific-ethereal places. Robyn's home, her local community, and Japan were integral to the way in which she contextualised her grief. However, these conceptually traditional places pale in comparison to Robyn's spiritual (re)connections with James. This unexpected information required me to expand the analysis of place to include spirits in this research. Finally, representations of grief in public and media spaces were found to be paradoxical. Still, the digital story and this research as a process and as a representational space were considered by Robyn to be therapeutic. Overall, Robyn's grief is evolving, changing, complex, and contradictory, and something she lives with every day.en_NZ
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/zip
dc.identifier.citationHutcheson, G. Y. (2009). The space and place of grief in geography: The ‘Avalanche Lady’ (Thesis, Master of Social Sciences (MSocSc)). The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/3599en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10289/3599
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherThe University of Waikatoen_NZ
dc.rightsAll items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
dc.subjectsocio-cultural geographyen_NZ
dc.subjectspaceen_NZ
dc.subjectplaceen_NZ
dc.subjectemotionsen_NZ
dc.titleThe space and place of grief in geography: The "Avalanche Lady"en_NZ
dc.typeThesisen_NZ
pubs.elements-id139547
pubs.place-of-publicationHamilton, New Zealanden_NZ
thesis.degree.disciplineGeographyen_NZ
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Waikatoen_NZ
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Social Sciences (MSocSc)en_NZ
uow.date.accession2009-07-10T14:57:06Zen_NZ
uow.identifier.adthttp://adt.waikato.ac.nz/public/adt-uow20090710.145706
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