Historical geography and local history

Abstract

Historical geography and local history originated in two separate parent subjects, geography and history. This is reflected in het the approaches they adopt respectively. They share, however, a common field of investigation: the development of an area or region through time, which explains why in the last twenty-five years the differences between them have become blurred. Of all the definitions for historical geography probably only four are significant today: the geography behind history; the reconstruction of past landscapes; the evolution of the cultural landscape; and the study of relict features. As far as the prospects for historical geography in South Africa are concerned, broad outlines only have been drawn and there are ample fields for research, e.g. frontier studies, which relate to colonisation and settlement history, and the study of relict landscapes. A vast number of questions about the evolution and appearance of the landscape need to be answered, and both historical geography and local history seek these answers.