THE QUESTION OF DIFFERENCE AND RELATIONS IN RICHARD HARTSHORNE - DOI 10.5216/bgg.v36i1.40366

Abstract

The American geographer Richard Hartshorne’s theoretical propositions are an invitation to reflection. Based primarily on Alfred Hettner’s conceptions, they constitute a significant contribution to the study of the nature of geography, as indicated by the very title of his work published in 1939, The Nature of Geography: A Critical Survey of Current Thought in the Light of the Past. The concern with the essence of this discipline has led the author to present in this book and in a text from 1959 (Perspective on the Nature of Geography), a
systematization of ideas and propositions from important classics of the geographical thought that preceded him, particularly from the nineteenth century. Amongst the main concepts presented in these publications,
the highlight are areal differentiation – widely disseminated (and misunderstood) among geographers – and the notions of relation and connection, largely related to the question constantly reiterated in his works – i.e., the variable character of the earth surface. Based on these premises, this paper lays out an analysis of these concepts, discusses their theoretical limits, and underlines the issues related to their analytical possibilities.
Keywords: Richard Hartshorne, differentiation, relation, connection.