THE HERO OF A THOUSAND SPACES AND MYTHICAL-GEOGRAPHICC JOURNEYS

Abstract

Geography, like other sciences, is a narrative. Reconfigured as a social science and concerned with the relationship between human beings and geographic space, it narrates the human experience on Earth. In this context, narratives, including magical-mythical narratives, can provide the geographer witj spatial investigation. This becomes more necessary in a context in which mythical accounts are being revived and valued in the human sciences, since they are no longer seen as illusion, but as paths of intellection. Based on these assumptions, this article is composed of a bibliographical review, accompanied by a theoretical reflection regarding the relationship between myth and Geography. To this end, he discusses the essence of the work of Joseph Campbell, an important American mythologist, and his dialogues with geographers who focus on the issue of myth, such as Eric Dardel, Yi-Fu Tuan and Paul Claval. It is concluded that it is pertinent for Geography to dialogue with Campbell's works, especially with regard to the spatiality inherent to mythical narratives, the way in which human beings think and organize geographic space and the prominence of the concept of place to understand the mythical space.