Escapism: from fear to creation

Escape is the original force of human cultural creation

This is a book that combines geography with nature, humanities, psychology, history, and society. Elaborating on the behavioral and psychological nature of human escape from the above directions, and deducing this escape psychology, can promote the creation and progress of human material culture and spiritual culture, so the process of escape is also a process of cultural creation.
Humanistic geography emerged in the late 1970s. The academic background at that time was that discussions between humanism and scientism were in full swing in European and American academic circles. The iconic academic work of humanistic geography is Yifu Tuan's article "Humanistic Geography" published in the June 1976 issue of the Journal of the American Geographical Union. This article was published in subsequent geography readers. Widely cited, it was this representative article that made Yifu Tuan recognized by the academic community as a master of humanistic geography.

One of the things humans escape from is nature. Harsh natural environment and sudden natural disasters will make people want to escape. The second object that humans escape from is culture. Escape from the noisy city life, escape from the harsh government, and escape from strict religious restrictions are all part of the escape culture. The third object that humans escape from is chaos. The chaotic and unclear state makes people feel confused and incomprehensible, and people are always trying to find clarity and clarity. People would rather adopt abstract models than accept clueless "reality" because clarity and clarity will give people a sense of "reality."
The fourth object that humans escape from is their own animality and bestiality. Human beings feel ashamed and disgusted with certain rude characteristics of themselves, so they make various efforts to escape from these natures. Plastic surgery, covering up shame, etc. all fall into this category of escape.

The destinations to which humans flee are also constantly changing. Escape the storm, escape to a warm house, escape the urban area with high-rise buildings, escape to the beautiful suburban botanical garden to escape the troubles of reality, escape to the illusory fairy tale world.

There are four main ways for people to escape. First, space movement. For example, moving to a place you think is ideal. Second, transform nature. The results of many human production activities are the transformation of nature. Third, build a material world with specific meaning based on imagination to satisfy certain spiritual demands. For example, shrines, temples, etc., with the help of such buildings, people can psychologically escape their dissatisfaction with the real world. Fourth, create a spiritual world. For example, beautiful legends and touching fairy tales can guide people to "escape" into the heaven of joy and happiness.

"Escape" is a seemingly derogatory term. However, it is precisely the innate escape psychology in human beings that promotes the creation and progress of human material culture and spiritual culture. In the process of escaping, human beings need to use various cultural means (organization, language, tools, etc.), so the process of "escape" is also a process of cultural creation.

Yifu Tuan's research scope in this book spans many fields such as geography, landscape, literature, history, and religious beliefs. His words often exceed the limits of literature, and his interpretations connect people's feelings about the real environment with insights from philosophy, psychology, urban planning, landscape architecture, and anthropology that may not seem to be related to geography.

This book has attracted the attention not only of geographers, but also of scholars in architecture, sociology, psychology and other disciplines.