He Yifu
I believe that Certeau is an idealist.
He makes a distinction between space and place. In his words, the place exists as an objective reality, while space is the place when human effort put into it. Throughout his arguments, he cannot emphasize the importance of labor effort more. According to him, everything is only meaningful when human action takes place.
His idea of stories is also inspiring.
He said, “stories carry out labor that constantly transforms places into spaces or spaces into places.” This sentence seems abstruse, yet it is more understandable given his perception of space and place.
Space is a place with human action. Under this presupposition, we could use an example to understand how stories transform places and space. Imagine the story which a man dining in the cafeteria. He walks in the cafeteria, the cafeteria transforms from a place to space; he walks out from the cafeteria, the cafeteria transforms from space to a place.
Certeau’s idea, seems to me, though being abstract and elusive, is indeed inspiring and profound.
He Yifu
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This is a compelling and thoughtful response to Certeau’s theory of space and place, one of the more captivating reflections thus far. Glad to see that you are critically critiquing him as an author, as well as his ideas and re-contextualizing them for your own understanding. Well done!