Contemporary novels about Patagonia rely on foundational texts to caricature the region as a sterile, empty, and isolated. This stereotype was the impetus for this study. Through literary texts concerning Patagonia, the author joins the theoretical debate regarding the relationship between marginal and hegemonic cultures. A close analysis of writings on Patagonia reveals that the image of Patagonian space varies considerably depending on the perspective of the narrator, character, or writer. This dissertation analyzes the construction of Patagonian space in six contemporary novels by Chilean and Argentinean writers. It is divided into two sections. The first section discusses novels written about Patagonia by non-Patagonians. These works depend on and repeat the image of Patagonia found in certain foundational texts. The texts analyzed in this section include Patagonia Express, by Luis Seplveda, Final de novela en Patagonia, by Mempo Giardinelli, and La tierra del fuego, by Sylvia Iparraguirre. By contrast, the second part of the dissertation analyzes novels by Patagonian writers. Rather than the familiar stereotypes of Patagonia, these works paint a vibrant picture of the social, economic, cultural, and human realities of Patagonia. The texts of this section include the short stories Caminos y rastrilladas borrosas and Memorias de un carrero patagnico, by Asencio Abeijn and Pap botas altas (a collection of short stories), by David Aracena as well as the novel El corazn a contraluz, by Patricio Manns. The theoretical framework for this dissertation derives from Humanistic Geography an emphasis on the social awareness. Particularly special attention is paid to the ways in which environment shapes human interactions. Within that framework, the use of Cultural Landscape theory serves to illustrate how the social and physical environment shapes the perception of space in Patagonian literature. The ideas of the geographers Edward Soja, Yi-Fu Tuan, Lester Rowntree, Paul Adams, Steven Hoelscher, Karen Till and Edward Casey are used in this dissertation. In addition, the ideas of the literary scholars Arturo Roig, Michael Keith and Steve Pile contributed greatly towards the conclusion that critics must remain constantly aware of how location shapes the perspectives of space and discourses of power.

This practicum develops the concept of Mapping Digital Landscape Narratives. It is an exploration of the use of social media as a passive form of community engagement in landscape architecture. Digital landscape narratives are stories about places that are created collectively by various agents, including people, groups, organizations and communities through the Internet and the use of social media. A case study of the Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg, Manitoba is used to explore the potential of social media as a tool in planning and design. This practicum explores the importance of social media to participatory culture. An understanding of landscape narratives is developed, and contemporary forms of representation are explored. The document explores three forms of data including original social media data, such as photographs and videos, metadata such as hashtags and locations, and social network data, which is created when people interact on social media. Research into mapping, social network analysis and online privacy outline best practices for researchers and designers of public space. A study of the Festival du Voyageur’s programming, along with an interview with the festival’s planning staff, establishes a conventional data set that outlines the festival on a city scale, a neighborhood scale, and the scale of the festival grounds. Social media data from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are mapped and analyzed to create a complimentary data set. Ultimately an overall complex narrative is developed describing the festival from various points of view at various locations. / October 2016

This thesis explores ways in which open space can be made memorable through the application of ecological design and landscape narrative principles. The Faerie Glen Nature Reserve is located in the predominantly residential eastern suburbs of Pretoria and has been identified as an important open space due to its unique ecological sensitivity. The hypothesis argues that through an understanding of the landscape narrative, interventions can be made in the reserve that will not negatively affect the ecological importance or the visual aesthetic of the reserve. These interventions will contribute to making a memorable landscape by reinforcing its beauty and genius loci. The interventions in the reserve should increase the daily use of the Faerie Glen Nature Reserve and thus promote the reserve as a sustainable open space while preserving its ecological importance. Copyright / Dissertation (ML(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Architecture / unrestricted