Imaginative geographies

Imaginative geographies: The article explores the concept of imaginative geographies, which are the
ways in which people construct and represent places and identities in their minds, and how they are
influenced by power, knowledge and geography.

Edward Said’s geography: The article focuses on the geographical imagination of Edward Said, a
Palestinian scholar and critic, who challenged the discourse of Orientalism and the cultures of
imperialism. The article examines how Said’s geography was shaped by his biography, history, and
theory, and how he used spatial metaphors and concepts to critique the representations of the
Orient by the West.

Foucault and Said: The article compares and contrasts the spatial analytics of Michel Foucault and
Edward Said, and shows how they both traced the connections between division, detail, and visibility
in the production of discursive regimes. The article also discusses the limitations and critiques of
their approaches, and suggests some possible extensions and revisions.

Case studies: The article illustrates the arguments with two case studies of imaginative geographies
of Egypt produced by European scholars and artists in the nineteenth century: the Napoleonic
Description de l’Égypte and the Cairo premiere of Verdi’s opera Aida. The article analyzes how these
texts and events appropriated, displayed, and performed the Orient, and how they were contested
and resisted by the colonized.

Visualising Korea: The Politics of the Statue of Peace:

The Statue of Peace as a symbol of activism and resistance. The article examines how the Statue of
Peace, a monument commemorating the victims of Japan’s military sexual slavery during World War
II, became a focal point of political controversy and protest between South Korea and Japan after the
2015 agreement that aimed to resolve the issue.

The impact of digital reproduction on the statue’s political power. The article argues that the digital
images and videos of the statue and its replicas, which were widely circulated online and in the
media, enhanced the statue’s visibility and influence in the global public sphere, and challenged
Japan’s attempts to erase or downplay its colonial past and atrocities.

The impossibility of a final and irreversible resolution. The article criticises the 2015 agreement for
demanding a permanent closure of the historical dispute and for requesting the removal or
relocation of the statue, which was seen by many South Koreans as a violation of their national
identity and memory. The article contends that reconciliation between the former coloniser and
colonised nation requires a continuous and respectful engagement with the past, not a one-off
settlement.

The visual politics of the Korean peninsula. The article situates the Statue of Peace within the
broader context of visualising the Korean peninsula, and highlights the role of visual representations
in shaping the culture, society and politics of the region. The article also draws on the theoretical
framework of Walter Benjamin to analyse the shifts in human perception and politicisation
accompanying the mechanical reproduction of the statue.