ABSTRACT

In the course of the wide-ranging enquiry into disorientation, the subject of spatial experience has been called into question from a variety of perspectives. The hunters–gatherers theory leads us to the heart of the debate on how human societies may be influenced by environmental factors, a theme that is not new to geography and which remains of vital interest and worthy of serious ongoing reflection. The "scientific precision" of many studies and laboratory experiments might thus be exchanged for the powerful and eternal metaphor of the labyrinth. Sexual orientation contributes to the formation of the subject and to the spatial dimension of the identity construction process. The notions of orientation and disorientation are at the heart of Ahmed's phenomenological discourse. The relationship between women and space, which is at the heart of Shirley Ardener's thinking, demonstrates that people and objects define and influence the space in which they are situated and are in their turn influenced by it.