ABSTRACT
This chapter uses multiple perspectives, lenses, methodological tools and scales to explore some alternative interpretations of the phenomenon of getting lost: by definition an ambiguous theme that does not fit into any single scientific or disciplinary framework. According to Freud, the uncanny features in other spatial experiences of disorientation or of getting lost in different places. The experience of getting lost involves abandoning our familiar points of reference to set out towards the new, and the unknown: "Lost has two disparate meaning. Losing things is about the familiar falling away, getting lost is about the unfamiliar appearing". The Italian anthropologist Franco La Cecla also addresses the theme of getting lost, approaching it from an anthropological and philosophical perspective with an emphasis on the notions of living and localism: "Getting lost' stands for the episodic or chronic distraction that affects our relations with the environment surrounding us". The chapter also presents overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
