A Historical and Systematic Survey of European Perceptions of Wilderness

Sammanfattning

This paper develops a historical and systematic typology of perceptions of wilderness that exist in contemporary western European cultures. After describing notions of wilderness associated with worldviews that emerged during the Enlightenment period (theological, early Enlightenment, liberalism, democratism) and as a critical response to it (Rousseauism, early Romanticism, English and German conservatism), we outline four recent transformations of these traditional notions of wilderness: wilderness as an ecological object, as a place of nature's self-reassertion, as a place of thrill and as a sphere of amorality and meaninglessness. In our conclusion, we suggest what practical relevance arises from such a nuanced understanding of the inherently ambiguous concept of wilderness.

Nyckelord

Europe; history of ideas; perceptions; values; wilderness

Publicerad i

Environmental Values
2014, volym: 23, nummer: 4, sidor: 443-464
Utgivare: WHITE HORSE PRESS

SLU författare

• Vicenzotti, Vera

  • Institutionen för landskapsarkitektur, planering och förvaltning, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

UKÄ forskningsämne

Idé- och lärdomshistoria
Landskapsarkitektur

Publikationens identifierare

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3197/096327114X13947900181590

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/60381