Lifepaths: geography and biography

Despite the differences identified in the famous clerihew on the subject, the arts of geography and biography are historically connected. Narratives of the lifepath in western culture have been plotted in an explicitly geographical way, through the metaphor and technique of mapping. This is evident in a variety of forms of life writing: spiritual autobiographies, travel writings, novels, educational texts, sociological studies and memoirs of professional geographers. The papers which follow this introductory essay focus on relations between script and space in the making of life histories, both individual and collective. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.