Cultural Geography: a Culturological and Philosophical Turn in Territory Studies Methodology

The article determines new methodological structures and means of describing territories in relation to changes in understanding the geography itself. Though traditional geography is treated as natural science, the present-day geography is considered as a branch of humanities and social thought as well (metageography, political geography, recreational geography, geography of tourism, cultural geography, etc.). The author identifies the peculiarities of territory descriptions from cultural geography’s point of view and reveals their role in understanding culture, particularly the culture of regions (regional culture). Furthermore, the article takes into account the role of social topology and new understanding of a place represented in social, philosophical and sociological conceptions. It emphasizes methodological importance of social and cultural interpretations of a place within the territory and the space for analyzing culture and sociocultural practices (tourism in particular).