Life of Geographer Carl Sauer - Term Paper Example

Key Thinker – Carl Sauer Name: Institution: About Carl Sauer – Biography Born in Warrenton, Missouri, on the 24th day of December, 1889, Carl Ortwin Sauer’s relationship with historical geography can be drawn to family backgrounds. While Sauer’s father was a lecture at Central Wesleyan College, the then German Methodist College, the grandfather was a traveling parson. If he absolutely borrowed from this two, then his ideologies, theories and perspectives take so many things into the account of historical geography – nature, religion, sociology and history all as related to geography. Carl Sauer started his education and professional life at a Germany school but later on returned to the United States where he attended the Central Wesleyan College and graduated in 1908. The interesting bit in this is how a renowned American geographer obtained his basic education in the German system, the same system for which his father was a lecturer – talks of a father’s blessings (Poloma, 2002). Also, it is vital to note that, Carl Sauer had his first tertiary level certification at just 19 years old; this is a rear occurrence in today’s contemporary society. Nonetheless, Carl Sauer’s education did not stop at 19; he proceeded to the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he evidently developed interest in historical occurrences as he pursued a geology course. Combining history and geology, Sauer had to take up a course that would satisfy his interest with the two and that is when he moved to geography, which was a broader course of study. Again, with the element of history in geography, Carl Sauer’s interests began to become evident as he grew closer to the subjects of changes in the physical landscape, composition of human cultural activities, and how these have evolved through time. With the education flexibility that existed then, advantageously, Sauer decided to transfer to the University of Chicago where he continued to study the same course of geography and the involved units, and finally attained his Geography PhD in 1915. Sauer exhibited his appreciation of the bond between humanity and the physical landscape by compiling a dissertation that had focus on the Ozark Highlands in Missouri, and information ranging from the local people of the area to its landscape. Today, in the 21st century, Carl Sauer is in recognition as one of the leading Geographers of the 20th century across the globe. This recognition is almost inseparable from his academic life most of which is associated with the University of California, Berkeley. It is in this institution of advanced learning where he started his practice as a Professor of Geography between the years 1923 and 1957 after which he became Professor Emeritus until his death when he was aged 85 years. However, Carl Sauer was not just a lecturing professor but also did a number of appreciable works in contribution to the field of historical geography, as shall be seen later on in this discussion. In this discussion, and as realized from the publications regarding Carl Sauer, terms historical geography and cultural geography are used almost interchangeably. This owes to the fact that, his works revolved around the changes in the physical landscapes through time, and changes in human culture relative to geography. In a pursuit to develop and grow in the above mentioned profession, before taking up as a professor at the University of California, Sauer started as a teacher of geography at the University of Michigan. But even as a teacher of the same, Sauer we also a student of another element of geography known as environmental determinism. This element had basis on the theory that the characteristics of the physical environment are exclusively responsible for the shaping and development of human cultures and societies. As will be seen later on in the discussion, Sauer came to disagree with this viewpoint, citing various reasons as detailed in his literary works. Now, detailing these reasons may be beyond the scope of this paper but it is important to note the element of environmental changes having impacts on the cultural perspectives on humanity and societies (Blackstone, 2010). Carl Sauer’s Works and Contributions to the field of Geography Sauer’s Perspective of the Environment It can be said that Sauer’s works tried to establish a connection between two kinds of environments; the physical and the socio-cultural. In this confab, the environment refers to the physical landscape but since there is a mention of the society, in other scopes, it could refer to the social limits within which the impacts of sociology can be felt or realized. In other views, it can be perceived as the environment set up by sociology (Abercrombie & Hill, 2000). Like any other, this kind of environment has factors that threaten it existence or sustainability for that matter. These factors can be viewed as test objects for establishing the essence of sociology, hence the society. The confusion and thought of culture to be synonymous to society is a common mistake. Every society has its culture, which makes culture a building unit of the society. The distinction from but close association with society makes culture a bit complicated and not easy to define definitely. However, all arguments reason that, it is habitually connected to an entity’s history and is a representation of how they live. It therefore contributes to the definition of a sociological environment and institution. A sociological analysis of culture suggests that, it presents an orientation and direction of behavior towards certain courses. It is presumable that, understanding of a community under the discipline of sociology would be most appropriate since it involves interactions between people. Geographical changes in the physical landscape have social impacts on the human society. Also, the nature of interaction (association and interdependency) of the historical geography aspects is social. Blackstone (2010) supposes that, in a social interaction, the various institutions and entities relate and interact with respect for each other’s boundaries. This point concurs with the above on mutual respect in a community. The environments of relation and interactions in a community are defined; the sociological environments are even predetermined. One can think of the community institution and environment as basic element of sociology. This group of entities which share a predetermined territory, culture or morals is referred to as a societal community. The development of a community may be based on its primary means of continuous existence, leadership or on its political structure and the various developments of community members. In this case, the means of existence of a sociological community is by holding up prospects of sociology. The community is structured and organized in determined ways. For instance, a political structure refers to the hierarchy levels and leading authorities in a particular society. Geography and the society Most of Sauer’s works are built on the idea of cultural processes, hence society compositions, form the defining bases of observation and perceptions about geography. Therefore, most of his contributions lied within the field of agricultural origin, the distribution of living things - plants and animals - and the influence of conquest upon indigenous societies. Such focus of study dwells on the processes leading to landscape change and resultant impact of the society, beginning at the prehuman stage of occupancy up to the present. In his works, we see Sauer’s ideological conclusion that geography deals with region, landscape or area. In actual fact, no subject other than geography, at the time, anticipated the study of area. Sauer put emphasis on the point that, phenomena that make up a region are not simply an assortment of certain aspects but are associated, or interdependent. Sauer held that discovery of this areal association and interdependency of the phenomena and their order is a scientific duty to which geography professionals should devote their energies. The Landscape Concept The above draw from Carl Sauer’s continued discourse of the idea that establishing a precise system that embraces the phenomenology of the physical landscape should be the sole purpose of geography. Sauer intentionally introduced the term landscape into the American field of geography in 1925, to emphasize on the appearance and scenery of the physical environment. This could have been his first major, effective, contributions to this field of study, as was in his publication of The Morphology of Landscape (Sauer, 1925). This was an influential article, though it developed on a borrowed concept of Landschaft, which was initially developed by Passarge and Schluter who were German geographers. Sauer’s disagreement with earlier thoughts was evidenced when he put forward the Landschaft concept of environmental landscape as an alternative to Environmental Determinism. The point of difference was that, while the landscape perspective pursued a description and explanation of the interrelations between humans and their environment (primarily concentrating on the human impact on the physical environment), Environmental Determinism, on the other hand, sought to detail specifications on the fundamental influences of the environment on humans. This concept of Environmental Determinism which Sauer rejected was developed by his lecturer Ellen Sample. Sample Articles and Books The other forms of Carl Sauer’s contributions are seen in his publications and it is evident how these publications were much concerned with the physical landscape, human cultures and the society. In this articles and books by Carl Sauer, it is evident that, time is not just an element that gives statistics on how long human culture has existed, but also, historically, how physical landscape changes affect this culture. In these publications, Carl Sauer discusses how geography has to take account of the history of the environment over time, and how these historical changes influence the structuring of human culture. For example, The Morphology of Landscape (Sauer, 1925) is one article where Sauer talks about the form and specific structural features of living things (plants and animals) in relation to the changing structure of the physical environment. Elsewhere in Foreword to Historical Geography, Sauer (1941) introduces the element of time as a concept of geography. The Princeton Symposium Carl Sauer’s idea was to have the study of landscape become a scientific endeavor in the field of Geography, particularly American landscapes and American Geography. In this interpretation, Sauer gave the landscape a description that engulfed an area made up of distinct forms association, both physically and culturally. Even though it may seem as though his works, to this point in the discussion, may have been concentrating on the American set up, Sauer also orated an advocacy for geographic study of all regions. Even as so, these geographic studies of the different regions must take into account the chronological history of the geography of a given area (Sauer, 1941). To achieve this, in Sauer’s perspective, the Landscape approach forms the right basis, makes the appropriate assumptions, and has the effective form, structure and functions. In the Princeton symposium of 1955, Sauer presented about the Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth which and was greatly appreciated by the recipients. In this presentation, he asserted concentration on an approach that took care of history in geographical studies. To this opinion, any geographical study or analysis has to take into account the historical happenings, and thus social changes, if the study or analysis is to be comprehensive. At least, with this presentation, it shows that Sauer’s concept was more about how historical geography impacts the structures of human cultures, rather than how human activities affect the environment around them. This is an arguable point, given that, he positions humanity as a victim of geographical alterations of the natural landscape. This is different from modern theories which insist that, environmental degradations results out of harmful human activities. These activities are considered harmful in the sense that, they have geological effects that have the potential of altering the geographical structure of the natural landscape. Ideally, Sauer had to dissociate geography from geology for his concept to hold and as seen later, this becomes the contentious point between Sauer and his critics. Sauer’s perspective on Humanity, Culture and Environment Sauer had major contributions and a bold standpoint on these three aspects. In fact, his opinion was that, a study on the present cultural landscapes, in a figurative sense, can only be comprehensive if it starts by laying a foundation on the developments of the original natural landscapes. At this point, he is trying to reveal the, apparently forgotten, relationship between human culture and the physical environment. This is the same effort that Albert (2029) puts in a quest to give culture an unconventional definition, citing that the existence of humanity, culture and nature is a complex set up as well as other well-enriched aspects of life. Culture is a critical topic that, in most cases, includes and easily intermarries with sociology. When a discussion launches on these two themes, the idea of diversity is inevitable. The fact that humanity is not of a common origin alone is a guarantee that opinion and idea differences on joining matters has to come into play. Sauer points to this by emphasizing that every region has it unique history, which must be considered in order to document geography of the same region. Considering a contribution by Sauer (1945) to establish the relation of man to natural earth, he postulates that, in the realm of sociology, culture addresses social factors of a society and a specific definition to it is not obvious except that, the key attributes are definite. Therefore, the necessity of defining culture cannot be over emphasized since it is historical geography influences this culture. However, for the purposes of sociology and other subjects, culture can be defined as the trend of shared patterns, beliefs, social values, behaviors or customs that the members of a society use as a tool for interaction with one another. Sauer points that, these elements of culture are under impact by geographical changes in the landscape of the physical environment. Complementarily, elementary, as used in his works could be taken to draw reference from the simplest, basic and fundamental building units of culture. These are the features that really make up and define culture. What others said – Criticism and Appreciation With such a view on as above, Sauer tried to dissociates geography from geology, something that geologists did not agree with as much. Sauer raised this point of interest at the Princeton symposium when he was simulating an introduction of man into the areal prospect. Most of those who did not agree with Sauer held that human activities on the natural earth’s surface can present serious geological consequences. At this point, Sauer faces criticism from geologists, who prefer approaches that focus on the current conditions of the environment, current human activities and subsequent geological effects of these activities. They emphasize on the contemporary nature of occurrences, which refers to items or events that occur at the same or current time due to coincidence, without implying any relationships. For geologists, in this contemporary setting, culture has a capability of transformation that is resultant of human actions. Culture has existed in the past yet when the term contemporary is used with respect to past occurrences, mostly the idea lacks clarity. When geologist raised such point of disagreements with a section of Sauer’s arguments, other scholars and professionals also took interest to put forward their perceptions. Williams et al. (2014) gave a summative collection of their perception of Carl Sauer’s works as an effort To Pass On A Good Earth. In their appreciation, William et al considered Carl Sauer as the most influential and distinctive geography scholars of the 20th century. Their appreciation is evidenced by the lengths to which Sauer’s works inspires academicians, literary artists and socialists. Ideally, Sauer’s views cut across many fields and subjects, to prove that geography can dissociate from certain fields but remains in association with many. In their appreciation of Sauer’s works, Williams, Lowenthal and Denevan express their disappointments as; despite the fact that Carl Sauer was with a rare versatility in his profession in his time, he is rarely known today. They try to support this point by raising the concern that despite the influential contributions, there is yet to be a book-length biography of Carl Sauer today. Solot (1986) also gave a piece of appreciation to Carl Sauer’s works and contributions, citing time and change as the rudimentary concepts in Carl Sauer's cultural geography (historical geography). He takes interest in the manner in which Sauer used time and conceived change in the physical environment and culture to describe the geography of a region. Sauer’s historical method received a significantly supportive reaction that disagreed with the turn-of-the-century theories such as the providential cultural evolution and considered cultural historical approaches to be more comprehensive. Sauer's early rejection of Environmental Determinism exhibited his disapproval of a cultural evolution approach. He might have acknowledged a realists chorology of material culture characteristics, but he had a differing opinion from contemporary anthropology. The elementary and contemporary aspects of culture as postulated by the different theories differ in various concepts and contexts. Nevertheless, the dynamic features like sports, music and modes of analysis are all productions of culture, and that fact creates a commonality and overlap between the two as products of culture. In other publications, Denevan (2009) also gives appreciations by considering Carl Sauer’s contributions as to have touched on issues that which remain pertinent even to today’s society. Such issues included history of geographic thought, sustainability in land use, and the importance of biological and cultural diversity. Since Sauer was student of the relationships between land and living things, people and regions, Denevan (2009) thinks, his contributions are able to extend beyond the scopes of any one discipline. Even more, Sauer was able to contribute to the establishment of landscape educations in cultural geography. His works also made it practical for typical shifts in the scholarly assessment of in the history of Innate American. His advocacy for ethical and responsible land use, in other words, a responsible stewardship of sustaining the earth, touches on religion. For instance, Christians believe that God charged humans with the responsibility of being its stewards and taking care of the earth and God’s creation. As per this recognition, it is evident that most scholars consider Carl Sauer as to have given an artistic foundation and a historical perspective to the environment and humanity relationship (Denevan, 2009). Outlook/Opinion and Conclusion Carl Sauer, even without book-length biography, stands as an iconic contributor to the field of historical geography and cultural geography. From the sample list of his publications and a review of some of his undocumented works, he sure had an unconventional style of study. The fact that his concept and approach go beyond the limits of any one discipline is an indication that he had a long term vision and desire of what geography should be in the respective fields. His books and publications showed much interest in the element in geographical changes and subsequent impacts on human societies and culture. The outlook of this paper takes interest in the Princeton symposium where Carl Sauer got the only significant open criticism from geologist. At this presentation, he made clear that his Landscape approach was concerned by taking into account historical chronologies to describe a region’s geography. He borrowed ideas from other scholars but sure; he exhibited his originality and confidence in his studies by rejecting an approach that his lecturer taught. More interestingly, he advocated for the relevance of culture and social structures as impacted by geographical changes in the physical landscape through time, hence history. His ideas were regarding culture and human culture and the society focused on the elementary definitions while conventional arguments were contemporary occurrences. This is the area where this discussion finds more interest given that these issues are evident even in today’s societies and human cultures. As such, the paper finds high value in detailing that elementary theories discuss culture in its naturalistic state as related to history. The idea is to ensure perception of its reality in the exact way it is. In the book The Idea of Culture, Eagleton (2000) tries to theorize the complexity and significance in the relationship between nature and culture of a society. This author writes with criticism on postmodern culture. It, therefore, sets up the contemporary ideologies relating to it. However, culture is more appreciable when perceived in its most original concept. Therefore, the foundations of contemporary cultural theory establish that a society is basically defined by its culture. Additionally, culture is for the consumption of the society for its benefits, the rate of that consumption determines the production of what is consumed. The ambivalence in the elementary and contemporary cultural theories is of much relevance in better understanding culture itself. However, that would be incomplete if their points of similarities and agreements are not established. The peak aim of cultural theory is to assert a sustainable development of approaches to a subject at hand. For a proper construction of knowledge, that process requires the interdependence between an entity and the social sector and the same is necessary for elementary and contemporary theories of culture. While elementary theories talk of the simplest and basic elements of culture, the contemporary concept analyses the simultaneous existence of different cultural thoughts, ideas or aspects. With a point of reference to history, especially the origin of culture, the idea of fashioning the register or language of moral and political communication would be unimaginable. The thought is that it distorts all that culture stands for; this is in the elementary context. Contemporarily, Williams (2005) discusses culture and materialism extensively as a postmodern factor. The culture acquired in the governance, law and political arena of a government influence the modes of materialism of its people or the system itself. Priorities of a member entity define the rates of development and this brings in the idea of rights. The culture of industrial action by activists against the political fraternity depends on society that recognizes the same. A clear cut difference between elementary and contemporary culture can be professionally achieved by considering the essential domains of human life. Such domains are inclusive of religious background, interpersonal relations like marriage, work with regards to ethics and social values, in addition. A structuralism’s analysis would study culture as a variable of behaviors and an object of the society. However, behind that is a theory that views culture as a language system that makes meanings systematized around the relationship aspects. The relationships could be of combination or opposition, this takes focus back to the interrelation of elementary and contemporary or, in other contexts, authority and subjects, and this is according to the Saussurian theory. The whole of this is insight is obtained by discourse analysis, which plays an important role in developing both historical and dynamic modes of inquiry into culture. In order to understand the contemporary points of culture, things have to make sociological sense, and in addition to that understanding, one gets to link cultural issues to social forces. A contemporary approach introduces one to the post-cultural, postmodern and postcolonial accounts. It could seem to be in a different and almost like redefining culture, but that is just the contemporary nature. A symbol of post colonialism is the recognition of labor as the presence of humanity at the work place, be it professional or not. This ensures a reward for that presence. The presence of humans is not of the abstract nature, like homoelectrus in engineering or homoeconomicus in the business word, but an assembly of interactions between persons (During, 2005). Conversely, in the historical and theoretical sense, the presence of humans was not for labor but a position of responsibility in the society. With great sincerity, it is most appropriate to conclude that, Carl Sauer made, appreciably, substantial and significant contributions to the field of geography. As the discussion finds, Sauer’s ideas and arguments adopted unconventional ways of relying on documented chronological history and particular areal geography. His perception was that, the geography of a given region changes as the history of that region changes, hence historical geography. Carl Sauer had the apparent vision of a new style of and approach to geographical studies that had to reliance on the conventional theoretical and statistical approaches. Instead, he displayed high regards for personal observance of phenomena in the real world. Therefore, in as much human activities have impacts on the geology of the earth, geographical changes heavily influence human cultural structures. Reference List Abercrombie, N. and Hill, S. T. (2000). The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. London: Penguin. Albert, B. (2009). A new definition of culture. American Anthropologist, 42.4: 571-573. Blackstone, W. (2010). Man for society, Human Societies, 7.23: 723-780. Denevan, W. M. (2009). Carl Sauer on Culture and Landscape. Louisiana: LSU Press. During, S. (2005). Genres and Genealogies in Cultural Studies: A critical introduction. Milton Park: Routledge. Eagleton, T. (2000). Towards a Common Culture: The Idea of Culture, Oxford: Blackwell. Poloma, M (2002). Fruits of The Father’s Blessing. Akron: The University of Akron Sauer, C.O. (1935). Aboriginal Population of Northwestern Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press. Sauer, C.O. (1945). The Relation of Man to Nature in the Southwest: A Conference, Huntington Library Quarterly, 8: 116-149. Sauer, Carl O. (1925).  The morphology of landscape. University of California Publications in Geography, 2: 19-54. Sauer, Carl O. (1941). Foreword to Historical Geography. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 31: 1-24. Solot. M. (1986). Carl Sauer and cultural evolution. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 76.4: 508-520. West, R. C. (2007). The Contribution of Carl Sauer to Latin American Geography. Louisiana: Louisiana State University. Read More