The evolution of methodological approaches in Catalan rural geography from 1904 to 1984

Abstract

Catalonia -a region traditionally linked in many ways to foreign countries- appears to have played a vital pioneer role until very recently within the sphere of geography in the introduction of novel methodological influences from elsewhere. During the 1940s, 1950s and the 1960s, the Vidal de la Blache tradition caught a firm hold in Spanish and Catalan academic geography. The end of the sixties saw the establishment of strong ties with schools of thought based in English-speaking countries at a time, in fact, when Spanish geography was still clearly dominated by French thinking.

This article aims to outline the introduction of new methodological approaches in Catalan geography during this period through the case of rural geography, which is one of the most widely studied fields, but also one of the most traditional in Spanish geography as a whole. The basic material consulted in the preparation of this paper was a total of nineteen doctorate theses which study rural geographical themes either in part or in their entirety. The majority of the authors were already or have since become university lecturers, which obviously resulted in an increase in their influence due to their involvement in academic and institutionalized geography.

For the sake of clarity, a two-fold chronological subdivision has been made. The first part refers to the first stage (1940-1966) in which Catalan geography appears to be strongly influenced by French geography, and regional monographic theses were produced. The second stage (1967-1984) is characterized by the progressive institutionalization of geography in the Catalan universities, by a greater acceptance of various innovations in the mainstreams of geographical thought in traditionally English-speaking countries, and by an increase in the diversity of approaches.