Visual disability in spatio-temporal assemblages: conceptualizing reference points from a non-pointillist perspective

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Authors

PORKERTOVÁ Hana DOBOŠ Pavel

Year of publication 2024
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Social and Cultural Geography
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14649365.2024.2399198
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2024.2399198
Keywords Visual disability; reference points; pointillism; assemblages; virtual; actual; discapacidad visual; puntos de referencia; puntillismo; ensamblajes; d & eacute;ficience visuelle; points de r & eacute;f & eacute;rence; pointillisme; agencements; virtuel; r & eacute;el
Description Reference points provide crucial spatial information for people with visual disabilities, and existing literature categorizes and describes their functions. However, these studies still adhere to a geographical pointillist logic that perceives points as fixed and stable entities and overlooks corporeal processes through which reference points are created. Utilizing concepts from Deleuze-Guattarian philosophy and drawing from sit-down and go-along interviews with visually disabled people, this article answers the question of how to conceptualize reference points from a non-pointillist perspective. By elucidating how reference points need to be actualized through affirmative bodily acts of complex spatio-temporal assemblages, it dismantles their seemingly disembodied and static nature. Consequently, the text explores reference points interwoven with diverse assemblages and examines scenarios in which suitable assemblages could not be assembled, nor could reference points, therefore, be actualized. Thus, the article departs from conceiving of points solely as nouns and presents them in verbal terms, effectively reconciling stability with dynamism.
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