Xavier Bernier est maître de conférences en géographie à l’Université de Savoie (Laboratoire EDYTEM, CNRS). Il étudie les sociétés au prisme de leurs mobilités et de leurs différentes façons de traverser l’espace. Le géotype montagne sert de cadre à une grande partie de ses publications où il est envisagé à travers les pratiques spatiales. Ses travaux sur la notion de traverser le conduisent à interroger ce défi social à travers les figures spatiales qui lui sont associées.
Controversies, sometimes strongly conflictual, on public toilets signs tell us something about the state of a notable societal debate : can we choose our sex or should we comply with what (various) others say ? Do we want a hyper-gendered or a post-gender world ? [...]
Why football players’ haircuts have gained such prominence on stadiums ? What do they tell us about those who choose them, about those who look at them, and about the relation forged thanks to them ? Numerous and various things turn out to be condensed in little information : the length, the colour, and the arrangement of a haircut. [...]
This work is about the “traverser” as a scientific notion. It is understood as the stacking of rhythms and spatial figures. Building a relation between space of departure and arrival through a reference space is a social challenge that mobilizes all spatial skills. This paper outlines the languages used to define the “traverser” : spatial architectures and spatialities are decoded with different figures and spatial maps ; visibility rules are developed through the study of tangible and intangible materials. [...]
This paper justifies “le traverser” as a scientific notion ; it argues that it can be defined as the social validation of spatial practices organized a posteriori. ”Le traveser” is a process of social “substantivation” that treats the distance traveled as a spatial unit. With examples from various scales and cultural materials, such as promotional films, webdocumentaries, cartoon or experimental movies, the purpose of this work is to define more precisely the linguistic and spatial uses of what can [...]
