A theory for the “Anglo-Saxon mind”: Ellen Churchill Semple's reinterpretation of Friedrich Ratzel's Anthropogeographie
<p>The American geographer Ellen Churchill Semple (1863–1932), famous for her work on environmental influence, is often framed as a mere disciple of the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel (1844–1904). Drawing on a reading of Semple's published and unpublished works as well as corresponden...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2022
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| _version_ | 1797110380847169536 |
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| author | Klinke, I |
| author_facet | Klinke, I |
| author_sort | Klinke, I |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>The American geographer Ellen Churchill Semple (1863–1932), famous for her work on environmental influence, is often framed as a mere disciple of the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel (1844–1904). Drawing on a reading of Semple's published and unpublished works as well as correspondence and diaries, this paper sheds new light on the two anthropogeographers' intellectual relationship, which was in fact one with benefits to both sides. Semple found in Ratzel's geography a detached and scientific language with which to reinterpret American history. He drew on her as an informant on issues of racial segregation in the United States. Although Semple remained loyal to his broader intellectual project after his death, she had begun, soon after they met, to develop her own brand of anthropogeography, freed from the ambivalences of his work. Her sharpened reformulation, which he had endorsed, would ultimately make anthropogeography an easier target for its critics.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:54:11Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:30d17b20-24f8-4cee-ac68-c2038430a3bf |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:54:11Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:30d17b20-24f8-4cee-ac68-c2038430a3bf2023-08-10T11:09:44ZA theory for the “Anglo-Saxon mind”: Ellen Churchill Semple's reinterpretation of Friedrich Ratzel's AnthropogeographieJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:30d17b20-24f8-4cee-ac68-c2038430a3bfEnglishSymplectic ElementsCopernicus Publications2022Klinke, I<p>The American geographer Ellen Churchill Semple (1863–1932), famous for her work on environmental influence, is often framed as a mere disciple of the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel (1844–1904). Drawing on a reading of Semple's published and unpublished works as well as correspondence and diaries, this paper sheds new light on the two anthropogeographers' intellectual relationship, which was in fact one with benefits to both sides. Semple found in Ratzel's geography a detached and scientific language with which to reinterpret American history. He drew on her as an informant on issues of racial segregation in the United States. Although Semple remained loyal to his broader intellectual project after his death, she had begun, soon after they met, to develop her own brand of anthropogeography, freed from the ambivalences of his work. Her sharpened reformulation, which he had endorsed, would ultimately make anthropogeography an easier target for its critics.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Klinke, I A theory for the “Anglo-Saxon mind”: Ellen Churchill Semple's reinterpretation of Friedrich Ratzel's Anthropogeographie |
| title | A theory for the “Anglo-Saxon mind”: Ellen Churchill Semple's reinterpretation of Friedrich Ratzel's Anthropogeographie |
| title_full | A theory for the “Anglo-Saxon mind”: Ellen Churchill Semple's reinterpretation of Friedrich Ratzel's Anthropogeographie |
| title_fullStr | A theory for the “Anglo-Saxon mind”: Ellen Churchill Semple's reinterpretation of Friedrich Ratzel's Anthropogeographie |
| title_full_unstemmed | A theory for the “Anglo-Saxon mind”: Ellen Churchill Semple's reinterpretation of Friedrich Ratzel's Anthropogeographie |
| title_short | A theory for the “Anglo-Saxon mind”: Ellen Churchill Semple's reinterpretation of Friedrich Ratzel's Anthropogeographie |
| title_sort | theory for the anglo saxon mind ellen churchill semple s reinterpretation of friedrich ratzel s anthropogeographie |
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