Structural, Semiotic and Morphodynamic Geography, Thirty Years On

In 1989 in Paris, a project was presented to integrate a theory of geographical forms with the theories of R. Thom, by means of A.J. Greimas’ general semiotics. The speakers were from Quebec: G. Ritchot, the author of this new structural theory of geography, and G. Desmarais, a PhD candidate in linguistics studying under J. Petitot at the EHESS. After a flurry of publications culminating in 2000, the project receded from the spotlight, as did Catastrophe Theory and the influence of structuralism in the social sciences in general. This paper analyses how G. Ritchot’s approach could give rise to such a project of mathematical modelling and anthropological and philosophical investigation, by focusing on the notions of form, discontinuity and dissipative dynamics. It also aims to show that it opened up many avenues that remain highly topical.