Non-places Part II

Last week's reading about places and non-places by Auge really interested me. Initially, I was skeptical of and confused by the term "non-place". I thought, "Isn't everything a place in some sense?". However, once I understood Auge's criteria for non-places, everything became clearer. Auge believes that non-places are spaces we merely visit. They most likely have an element of commercialization and anonymity. Also, non-places deal with travel and distancing. Examples of non-places could be a bus, an elevator, a big lecture hall, an airport, a bank, a hotel, or a mall. In this context, the idea of non-places began to make more sense to me. Places, on the other hand, have a historical context and are concerned with identity. Examples could be a town square, a church, and a long-term job. People generally spend more time in places than non-places. I realized that I visit non-places just as much as I visit places on a daily basis. Auge also points out that a person's daily routine is a continuous shift between places and non-places, which is certainly true in my case. On an average day, I might get up in the morning and leave my dorm (place), some days attend a large lecture (non-place), get money from the ATM (non-place), meet friends for lunch at the cafeteria (place), take the bus (non-place) to work, spend time at work (place), take the bus (non-place) home, go to the library (place) to work on homework, and finally sleep at home (place). Another point that was brought up in our class was that defining a certain space to be a non-place or place is very subjective. A coffee shop for some people may be a place to grab a quick cup of coffee. For others, it may be a place to meet friends every Tuesday night. Auge's discussion of places and non-places shed new light on a topic containing familiar elements but new ideas.