LITERARY RESOURCES FOR mSTORICAL GEOGRAPHY:A FLORIDA EXAMPLE

Ary J. I.amme IIIUniversity of Florida

Geographers are witnessing a movement in research which emphasizes thehumane element of our concerns. Humanistic geography, according to Tuan,"achieves an understanding of the human world by studying people's relationswith nature, their geographical behavior as well as their feelings and ideasin regard to space and place."l Gould notes that, "At the present time thependulum is swinging towards a behavioral geography characterized very stronglyby a concern for the micro-spatial behavior of ths individuaL, his cognitivemechanism and psyche.,,2

A humanistic geography, distinct from one based on logical positivism,seeks to develop "a sense of place," something more in the location conceptthan merely the scientifically ~easurable. The artistic may be less objective,less quantifiable; but such qualities do not make it any less important. Wrightrecognized a geography cOlilposed of scientifically verifiable data, surroundedby a vast periphery of information that had to be dealt with subjectively.'The geographer, he felt, could profitably use imagination and intuition inefforts to gain an understanding of place and circumstance. Thus, we respondto the "siren's song," and share with others the humanity which is within our­selves. In this context, what Berry has to say about "metageogrnphy" isapposi teo

What, then is proposed is a view of the world from the vantage of processmetagcography. By metageography is Illeant that part of geographic specu­lation dealing with the principles lying behind perceptions of reality,and transcer.ding them, including such concepts as essence, cause, andidentity .•

~o one would suppose that the humanistic movement is universal amonggeographers. Yet for those who might move in such a direction, a considerationof some of the elements of a humanistic component to the discipline is in order.This paper considers the i~plications of this trend for historical geographers,with an illustration from Florida literature.

Humanistic Historical Geograp~

One of the basic problems facing a humanistic historical geography isthe purposeful crossing of that frontier zone which divides scientific fro~

artist:ie investigations. ~'hile lIIUch can be learned fro,", scientific studies,artistic examinations of man delve into certain aspects of the human experiencewith unmatched discernment. Where are historical geographers to look for thehumane component? Logically our attention might be directed toward the fertilefieldS traditionally covered by the humanities. "Essence, cause and identity"as well as a host of other concerns dealing with the condition of mankind havebeen the foci of great art. All for~~ of art could be useful. but geographersare likely to find literary works a good place to start. Of course, geographershave not igm>red the work of writers. yet the use of these resources has hardlybeen systematized.

British geographers began to make use of literary resources in the 1930s.Authors of varying stature were investigated to ascertain how much supplemen­tary knowledge their works could add to what was known about particular periods.Studies appeared investigating the quality of Defoe's geographical references. s

and reconstructi,,1/. the geography of sixteenth century England through thewritings of John Leland and William Camden.· Especially notable was Darby'sanalysis of the Dorset landscape through the novels of Tholll3s Hardy.' In inter­vening years rather infrequent articles have appeared in what we might term thisliterary reconstruction tradition, which directs literary resource use in geo­graphy toward inductive, regional results.

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7'M R.UllXI11Ce of Ut:eratW'-.It historical geographers are to .ake more e~tensive use of artistic re­

sources, they will want to be assured that such ~aterials are relevant to geo­graphic questions. It i$ correctly assu-cd that literature is related to thesociety that produces it,a but there hMve been a range of views on the natureof the relationship between literature and society.' At one end is the viewthat literature is si-ply reflective. while at the other that it is the causerather than effect. Between is the notion that literature airrors societybut aay also have soae inlluenee on its workings. Most literary scholars see.to accept this .cderate interpretation.

Sociologists of literature, aore than other social scientists, haveex..ined the relationship between literature and society. OIIe of th_. LeoLowenthal. tells uS what we can expect to find in literature.

The specific treat.ent which a creative writer eives to nature or to love.to ,estures and ~. to gregariousness or solitude, is a pri.ary sourcefor the study of the penetration of the aost inti.. te spheres of personallife by ,ocial force, . . .. In fact. the most generalized conceptsabout h..an nature found in literature fTOve on close inspection to berelated to social and political chapge .•

Reaarding sources on seventeenth century French society, Lowenth"l says, "cer­tainly other sources describe the occupations and preoccupations of the bour­geois at the time of ~oliere; but only Moliere reveals what it was like to livethis experience." I I

Patt:el"'ning and Content A'wl.lfeiaA quality of literature which has received ettention frOll literary

schOlars in recent years and which lilly be useful for acoiraphers 15 patterning.This has to do with the regular use or absence of certain words or images. ThesysteRatlc portrayal or exclusion of certain social groups fro. the literatureof a period or artistic tradition aay be significant. Social scientists .aybe able to detect relationships between patterns in literature and patternsof living. A noted literary scholar. Rayaond williUlS has observed:

In the last decades of the eighteenth centuT)·, and In the first half ofthe nineteepth century, a nueber of words. which are now of capital iapor­tance, c"e for the first tiae into cOlaOn English use. or where they hadalready been generally used in the language, acquired new and iaportant_aning. There is in tact a general pattern of change in these words.and this can be used as a special kind of aep by which it is possible tolook again at those wider changes in life and thou~t to which the changesin language refer. 12

Atte.pts have been aade to analyze language patternin, throu¥h quantita­tive techniques. usine a ..thod known as content analysis. Geographers haveused content analysis with docuaentary resources froa past periods such asjournals and newspapers; I' however. artistic literature has not cOle In for.uch scrutiny. Whether analyzed quantitatively or subjectively. patterning inliterature is an area of potential interest to social scientists.

Literature at its best can suggest much to the historical geographerbeyond lere setting. By Its flows, the wealth of e~ple frOl one tiae andthe dearth frOlll another; its patterning of language. i ..ge and subject; itsunparalleled penetration of the hu.an condition; literature suggests to usso~ethin& of the social conditions of the age in which it was produced.

Utility of Utel'atu:reOne of the most appealing aspects of literary utilization in geography

ia its historic value, where it may be the only source for certain types ofdata. For instance. perceptual research often includes interviews and surveys.These .ethods cannot be U5ed in lOst historical studies. However, literaturefro. the past often e~amines the individual in detail, and can be used withcare in the e~aaination of perceptual questions.

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Of several ~u~arie$ of historical geographic research which have ap_peared in the past few years, Prince'sl- classification of the field seems bestat providing a suitable niche for literary resource utilitation. In his view,research in historical geography falls into either real, iMagined, or abstractconceptualitations of the past. The first and last of these refer to the re~

construction of past geographies and attempts to model the past. nle iaaginedapproach seeks an understanding of past perceptions, motives, attitudes, andbehavior. Literature should be particularly useful in this category.

~jOri6 Kin~ Rawling8' The Yearling

TWo recent examples of research aim at developing literary resources forgeography. Salter and Lloyd investigate the portrayal of landscape in liter­ature throu~h the wOrks of a nu.ber of authors. '5 ~ single author, WilliaMFaUlkner, is the focus of ~iken's study which atte~pt! to ~atch literary usagewith geographical reality in Lafayette County, mssissippi.'6

For those with Florida interests, the name of Harjorie Kinnan Rawlingsi~ediately cOmes to mind. What follo~s is a report on preli~inary researchinto her writing as a resource for the historical geographer.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' literary production was extremely varied. Shewrote newspaper articles, short stories, poems, novels, and even a cookbook.She is best known for her classic, The Year~ing, for which she received thePulitter Prite in 1939.'1 Gordon Bigelow wrote the major criticism of Rawlings'work.'· Fe focuses on her life at Cross Creek, in North Central Florida, herrelations with the local population, and the evidence of this interaction inher writing. lie contends that "place" was II vital ct'ncept to her. A geo·grapher's investigation "f a "sense of place" in her workS is, therefore, inline with literary criticis~.

In previous work I have presented four overlapping conce~ts appropriatefor the historical geographer who would use literary resources. ' These fourare landscape, hu~an ecology, strategy, and regionalis~. The Yearling cancontribute to OUr understanding of Florida in ellch of these areas.

LandscapeMany novels give us detailed accounts of physical and cultural landscapes.

~ Yearling is set in the pine scrub forest of ~orth Central Florida. Popu4lation density is low. The reader acquires II strong impression of the enormityof the fOrest and the isolation of individual faMilies. The novel contains longand accurate descriptions of pine islands (high places, such as where the Bax­ters, the main fa~ily in the story, live); the St. Johns River: a ~~all settle­ment on that river; wildlife: sinkholes; and many other naturalist observations.Clearly Marjorie Kinnan RaWlings knew the land.

HI#IrOI CcologyNumerous thelles may be investigated within the concept of hUMan ecology.

The traditional geographic concept of ~n-Iand can be expanded to inClude thecultural environment. Social geographic themes of interaction between groupsin society are often found in novels. Perceptual questions would be includedin this concept.

The Baxters live a solitary life. Jody Baxter and his father try to Makea living through fa~ing and hunting. This struggle is not an easy one, andBigelow points out that Rawlings herself had anything but an easy time makinga liVing off her land at Cross Creek. The Baxters' life is nOt one of totalisolation, however. They travel to a small settlement on the St. Johns andinteract with a wider range of people. The experience expands their world viewand demonstrates the existence of an alternate mode of living.

The Baxters' neighbors are the Forresters. The interaction betweenthese families highlights a perceived social hierarchy in the scrub. While theBaxters to themselves se~ to personify characteristics of hard work within astrong moral code, the Forresters have slipped so~ewhat from the ideal. TheForresters are conscious of this perception and sensitive to it. There are ties

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of shared ex.pcTicnco between the Bn:ters and Forrestel"s. Hwever, indivj,lualI,c..be:rs of both flImilies cOlllplicate the relationship. Thus, Rewlil'gs presenteduS with a cowplex social geographic system, a system which is the operationalenvironment of the inhabitants of the scrub.

The central relationship in the novel is between Jody Baxter and hisfawn. There are parallel ",aturation processes as the fawn beca.'es II. yearlingand .5 Jo<!y becomes a young !:lan. Their grQWth is inti.... tol)' connected withthe environment. The fawn finds it mOre an.l lItOre difficult to live in closeproximity with humans, and ultimately perishes. The boy, similarly, has dif­ficulty coming to grips with his surroundings. 1:1emcnts of his environmentaltrial include; an isolation not of his own choosing; a sen~itive nature rebel­ling at harsh realities of the forest; responsihilities too II;reat for one soyoung; and the lure of the outside world.

Strat6yyJ have uscd this category to include IIIOtivation, plan, and action.

Economic g~ography themes involve <':eelsions On how to II\lIke a living. cO_lJli­cation and transportation connections. and the difficult economic realities oflife. Geographers will he most interesteG in the spatial ramifications ofthese thellles.

The Baxters d" not have to ll.ve in the forest. and yet the father hasmade a conscious decision to do so. The following lines gives us s~e feelingfor h:l 5 itleas.

But in the towns and vill",ge5, in fuming sections where neighbors ..crenot too far apart. men's minds and actions and property overlapred. Therewere illtnu>ions on the individual sl>idt . 1l'e peace of the vastaloof scrub had drawn hilll with the beneficence of its silence"'aking a living callie harder there, distllnCt'S were troublesomc in thebuying of sUllplies and the lIarl.:eting of crops. But the clearing waspeculiarly his own. lO

The Baxters' t,lan is a combination of elllOtional prefeTl'mce and realistic <leteT­1Il1nat.iOl'. As with Illuch frontier Uteratllre. tl>e ..aintenance of thcir imleper.­dence is a central concern. The particular ~etho<l of making a living is se~on­

dary to the rugged natures necessary to nt.tellpt it. ",ll of thi~ is done "'ithinspatial fra",eworks; one ~,aterilll. that they are well aware (If. and the ot.herlUCtaphysical. perhaps only rlil<lly cOIDprehended. They know that. the)' have ah\lJlured acre T.raC"·t in the forest fro- which to scratch a living. TIds is aharsh lI1aterial reality. And then there is the mental concept of range of fTee·dOIll. hinted at in the passagc above. Just because it is less clearly definedin IIlsterial terlls does ncot ,.al..e it ar.y less operative in their lives.

Reyicmal.iemMost novels attelllpt to e5tablis~ a setting. In rany rases this will be

lllere bad..Kroun<l witl; little thought r.iven to accurac}' or locational flavor.In the case of T1~ YoorZing. RaWlings present~l a complex picture of an areaand the people who inhabit it.

n,e forest, because of the difficulties that it presents. excludesdiverse ell'.lIIents of I<ociety. Within this setting is found a group of peoplecharacterized by s,any of the traits discussed in the human ecology section."Cracker" Florida is inhabit.e<l by poor. rural. white. and relatively uneducatedpeople. We ~ec theID during the pioneer perio<l in North C.entral Florida. Thisgroup is set apart physically, and perceives of itself as different. Percep­tions of outsiders and how they live, even in the slllall settlelllent on the St.Johns. "ecollle fiXed in the minds of the piOneers.

In T1uI Yearling we read of the physical and cultural characteristics ofan era. ~Iuch of this inforJll;ltion we could get fro~ geography and history texts,but the co~ination of t.hese settings. inrluding the penetrating examinationof indivi<lual lives gives us a new perspective. Rawlings herself was not nativeto the region. but she liv~1 among its people and her portrayal of that societyseeills vali<l.

Cona'LuBum

There is a humanistic movement underway in geography. and historical 8eo­grapher5 can find ways to respond to it. Artistic literature would seeM to bea valuable source in this regard. It is clear that litflrature is intiDatelyrelated to period and place. Furthermore, literature can deal with perceptualquestions for geographical studies of the past. Admittedly. this is a verysubjective undertaking. There Day be differing interpretations of a literarysource. However. a preliminary look at Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' novel TheYear'Ling suggests that there is much of value for the historical geographerin her books.

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1. Yi-Fu Tuan. "Hu&anistic Geography." Annals. Asaociation of AmeI'icran Gilo­graph~u'B 66 (1976):266.

2. P. R. Gould. ''The Open Geographic CulTicuh1Dl" in Di1'Bctions in Geofll'ClPh!J,ed. Richard J. Chorley (London: Methuen and Co .• Ltd., 1973). p. 262. italicsmine. T. ~agerstrand also calls fOr a renewed concern with the individualIllan: '''The Ool\3in of HUlI\8.n Geography." Dil'ectiona in Geography, p. 75.

3. J. K. Wright, HI#fI(D1 Natwoe in Geography (CaJIlbridge: Harvard University Press,1966). pp. 68-88.

4. 8. J. L. Berry. "A ParadigDI for Morlern Geography," Directions in GCOfJT'apl,y,p. 9.

5. J. N. L. 8aker. ''The Geography of Daniel nefoe." Scottitll. Geographilla'L Maga­~ine 47 (1931):257-69.

6. E. G. R. Taylor. "Leland's England," and "Camden's England," in An HiatoricalGeography of t:1lgl.and Befo"f'e A.D. 1800. ed. H. C. Darby (Caillbridge: Call1brid,,,,University Press. 1936). pp. 330-286.

7. H. C. Darby. ''The Geography of Thomas Hardy's Wessex." Geographical PevieIJ38 (1948) :426-43.

8. J. Thorpe, ed., Relations of Utemry StudlJ: Essaya on InterdieciplinarlJContributions (New York: Motiern Language Association of AIrIerica, 1967).

9. M. Albrecht. ''TIle Relationship of Literature and Society." The Americat,JOIO'l'la'L of Sociology 59 (1954) :425-36.

10. L. Lowenthal. Li:t4mt:u.N and the Image of Man: Sociological Studies of tileEU~ean Drama and Novel. 1600-1800 (Boston: The Beacon Pres~. 1957), Intro­duction.

11. Ibid.

12. 11:. Williams. Q<lture and Societ:y 178(1-1950 (London: Ch.tto and l\"indus. 1958).p. xiii.

13. A. J. W. Catchpole, D. W. Moodie. and B. Kay. "Content Analysis: A Methodfor the Identification of Dates of First Free~ing and Final Breaking from Des­cript.ive ACCOunts." Profes8ionaL Geographsr 22 (1970):252-57.

14. H. Prince. "Real, JIIIOlgined and Abstract Worlds of the Past," in Progre1!J~ inGeography: In:t4r>naticna'L Revier,} of Cta-rent Reaearch, Vol. 3, ed. C. Board, R.Chorley. P. Haggert. and D. Stoddart (New York: St. Martin's Press. 1971), p. 24.

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IS. C. Salter and W. Lloyd, LandScape in Lite~turB, Resource Paper for ColleaeGeoaraphy no. 76-3 (Washinaton: Association of American Geographers, 1977).

16. C. Aiken, "Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County: Geographical Fact into Fiction,"Geographical Revieu 67 (1977):1-21.

17. M. Rawlings, The Yearling (New York: Scribner, 1938).

18. G. Bigelow. Frontier &ien (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966).

19. A. l.amme, "The Use of Novels in Geography Classrooms." J()U:r'I1Ql of Geographll76 (1977):66-68.

20. Rawlings. The Yearling, p. 18.

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