Abstract
Taking place. An introduction to the concept of place and its literary potential
The article is an introduction to the concept of place and its literary potential. It begins by pointing out the actuality of the concept in present research and by asking why, in our modern, globalised, world, it seems to be of special importance to reflect on place. Subsequently, the perspective is traced back in time and the article investigates the philosophical history of the concept of place as well as its close relation to the phenomenological tradition. Hereafter, related concepts such as space and non-place are brought into focus, and the role of place in ordinary language is briefly commented on in connection with a discussion about the fundamental meaning of place in our lives. As its last point, the article deals with the relationship between place and literature by discussing different ways of treating this field and by indicating the potential lying in an approach to literature founded on place.