Wild Camping, Brexit and Contemporary Psychogeography

Christopher Prendergast wrote: 'Debord ...outlined elements of a psychogeographic lifestyle, which had the investigation of urban phenomena at its heart, in his ‘Theory of the Dérive’ He described such acts as:‘slipping by night into houses undergoing demolition, hitchhiking non-stop and without destination through Paris during a transportation strike in the name of adding to the confusion’ and also ‘wandering in subterranean catacombs forbidden to the public’ (Debord,2006: 65). The idea of moving by various means, often covert or unofficial, through parts of the city generally considered out of bounds is commonly found in contemporary psychogeography and such activities might be seen as ‘expressions of a more general sensibility’ (Debord, 2006: 65). However, it is important for us to view them in terms of the initial definition Debord outlined before moving on to contemporary manifestations. Debord defines psychogeography as ‘the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, whether consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviours of individuals’ (Debord, 2006: 8). The impact of the environment on the individual is key here, as is their interaction. We should also take note of the sense of precision. Debord uses empirical terms (‘precise laws’, ‘specific effects’) to heighten the reader’s sense of psychogeography as an objective pursuit.' (Prendergast 2015:25) And it strikes me that wild camping is the new contemporary psychogeography. It's covert and unofficial, often trespassing, and it's certainly an expression of a 'more general sensibility', given the politically uncertain climate we're living in today so it's less and less unusual that people want to seek solace in a new environment, a new geography.

On my wild camping trip to Wales, I encountered an unfamiliar environment which seemed vast and unpopulated (until about 12 midnight, when a fellow walker shone a torch into my tent) and shocking weather - the heaviest, driving rain I've experienced in a long time, and the worst I've ever put up with whilst under canvas. But, I took this trip on purpose. It wasn't an accident, as wild camping never is. I wanted to see how it felt to be out there in the wilds of Wales, overnight. I wanted to see how I'd feel about it. Contemporary psychogeography might have begun to be dismissed as a too-vague, possibly therefore meaningless term, by critics who argue it has deviated from its utopian origins, but perhaps wild camping has given it a new lease of life. Here's Prendergast again: 'Thus psychogeography can seem like an urban practice, an urban ritual and further, a level of perception, or consciousness, that seeks out a new terrain of‘discovery’. (2015:26)

Alasdair Bonnett suggests that 'Psychogeography has outgrown the limited and exclusionary world of the revolutionary avant-garde.' (In Richardson 2015:242) However, the term - the practice - of 'wild camping' is a fairly new thing, though interest is increasing, and there are several websites and books available now. One such site says 'WILD CAMPING IS A TREND BECOMING MORE POPULAR YEAR-ON-YEAR.'(https://alanrogers.com/articles/wild-camping/intro). Tina Richardson says 'Political crises spur an interest in economic change on the street level, as can be seen in the early 1990s (see the Poll Tax Riots circa 1990.)'(2015:243) If we look at where we are now politically, Brexit in particular is (whatever your leanings) causing a political crisis. The uncertainty of this then, might add to what Richardson describes as not so much as a psychogeographical 'turn' as a 'gentle bend in the road' (2015:245) If a revival was about to take place, then considerations of how that might materialise not just post-Brexit, but in this interim time, and in the (possible) upcoming transition period. But it's not simply political uncertainty that might prompt a psychogeographical turn/bend/leaning, it is the way in which Brexit might alter the 'specific effects of the geographical environment'. Might we, as un-europeans, perceive our environment differently, what with the UK's identity being re-written, and might this new position that we're going to hold as inhabitants of that land change the way we see things geographically, alter our consciousnesses? This would be worth investigation, for sure.

Meantime, from my point of view, wild camping, the remoteness of it, those hills in that picture, and that water, and, of course the force of the weather at night (the like of which I've never experienced under canvas before in my life) did evoke a vaguely, temporary Buddhist feeling, it made me reflect on my own life and it has made me think about what I'm writing and consider the importance of a political aspect to my novel. I'm not keen on writing a Brexit novel. Anthony Cartwright did that already, I'm pleased to say (and so has Jonathan Coe) and I realised as I sat looking out at that lake in that picture there, that setting my novel during the voting-in of Tony Blair is a good idea. I'm moving on with this draft of this novel now, and it's leading me, I think, backwards, rather than forwards, specifically. The way I'm writing it is not linearly. Today, for example, I'm going to write a scene about something that happened in one of the character's childhood. There is, as it goes, an element of truth in it. It's about a girl who fell off a horse (we used to ride the 'wild' horses round by where I lived) and later died of the head injury. It's clearly something that's stayed with me as a vivid memory. I am, however, retracing my steps back through this novel and fitting this back story in. I'm aware I'm using psychogeographical terms to describe my technique here. It reminds me of Richard Long, who I must have mentioned before, whose 'Lines Made by Walking' are an artistic psychogeograhical act, and this photo I took a while back, and which feels to me like a metaphor for the way I'm writing at the moment: a well-worn line in the midst of the environment.

Refs:

Bonnett, A. (2009) 'The Dilemmas of Radical Nostalgia in British Psychogeography.' Theory, Culture & Society 26 (1): 45-70

Debord, G. (2006) 'Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography.' Situationist International Antholog. Ed. Ken Knabb (Berkeley: Bureau of Public Secrets, 2006) 2-12

Debord, G. (2006) 'Theory of Derive.' Situationist International Anthology. Ed. Ken Knabb (Berkeley: Bureau of Public Secrets, 2006) 62-66

Prendergast, C. (2015). A Birmingham psychogeography : continuity and closure. Keele University.

Richardson, T. (ed.) (2015) Walking Inside Out. Contemporary British Psychogeography. London, New York, Rowman & Littlefield International