Wilderness is metaphor Flashcards
Our notions of what nature is or isn’t
cultural and social constructionism.
How is nature socially constructed?
- Nature is the product of civilization
- Who we are tells us something about how we will see nature.
- We have come up with the idea of nature itself
Nature is the product of ____
civilisation
William Cronen quote:
“Nature [..] is a reflection of our own unexamined longings and desires”
“wilderness was the last bastion of rugged
individualism”
William Cronen would argue that the way we talk about, present and perceive nature tells us more about
about who we are than what nature really is.
Willian Cronen nature was the last ____ of individualism
“wilderness was the last bastion of rugged
individualism”
Community formation and Nature
People in primitive conditions were forced
to band together to form communities and democratic institutions.
Nature and social/economic/political power
Whose image of nature dominates?
Nature as…
Pristine
Pure
Playground
Place of work
Sacred
Anti-human or hostile
The “last bastion of rugged individualism”
Nature as “the last bastion of rugged individualism”
Nature is a proving ground that proves how individually capable a person is. (Bear Grylls)
Nature as “pristine”
Nature is pure, uninhibited, virgin, pure. Humans, in contrast, are soiled.
Nature as “playground”
Nature is something that can be domesticated, tamed and used for entertainment.
- A place to enjoy ourselves and recreate.
- (Cronen points out that this is not entirely different from resource - it is still consumed).
- This playground is almost always commodified (tourism, camping gear, camping fees)
Nature as “sacred”
Connects one to the eternal, connects one to our biological beginnings. Loaded with the deepest core values of our morals and culture.
Nature as “Anti-Human” or hostile
Idea that nature is the evil hostile and that nature is:
- Deserted, savage, desolate, wasteland,
- Nature is the anti-thesis of all that is good
Nature as “pure”
Nature is pure, sweet, lovely, a ‘mother’. A nostalgia for a notion of nature that never existed. The idea that this civilized world that separates us from an older, simpler world.
