Concept Of Wilderness Research Articles

Wilderness Ethics in the Anthropocene

Abstract The concept of wilderness has been deconstructed with the arrival of the age of Anthropocene, so the wilderness ethics of the Anthropocene was once ignored. But in fact, what has been deconstructed is only the “natural” wilderness as pure nature, not the “untrammeled” wilderness. In addition, the environmental system corresponding to the traditional wilderness concept still exists, and is still the closest to the original natural environmental system. There is a debate on how to treat this environmental system in the age of Anthropocene, so it is necessary to clarify the concept of wilderness in the Anthropocene and rebuild the wilderness ethics. The wilderness ethics of Anthropocene is a responsive one, which calls for both sides to interact and blend without denying the autonomy of both sides: On the one hand, we should establish a holistic view of harmonious coexistence between man and the wilderness, basing on the ideological basis provided by the Anthropocene to break the binary opposition between culture and nature. The view does not include a sacred order. On the other hand, we should affirm the autonomy and uncertainty of the “untrammeled” wilderness. The wilderness ethics of the Anthropocene enlightens us that we should regulate the intervention of human and technology in a certain range when protecting the wilderness, respect “locality” and derive ecological wisdom from indigenous peoples.

Reading the ‘wordless unease’ in Margaret Atwood’s ‘Death by Landscape’

This article examines the way Margaret Atwood’s short story ‘Death by Landscape’ (1991) engages with the representational strategies of Canada’s celebrated Group of Seven artists. I situate my reading of Atwood’s work first within aesthetics, focusing on her subtle problematization of the masculine ideology and wilderness aesthetic of the Group of Seven. I argue that Atwood unsettles the dominant, virulently male tradition of representation of the wilderness by uncovering an alternative female narrative through an ekphrastic engagement with the paintings. By doing so she not only dismantles the concept of wilderness both as a physical space that women have limited access to and as an imaginary construct; but at the same time she also reconfigures the structure and the content of wilderness stories, and in fact the concept of wilderness itself. Atwood offers a counter-discursive revision of the male adventure and maturation story by deconstructing and restructuring traditional narrative practices to render the female experience visible. This article hopes to show that Atwood expands the possibilities of the adventure story and wilderness writing and creates room for a female version of the maturation story with a fundamentally different aesthetic.

Świat post-naturalny? Teoretyczne, empiryczne i artystyczne rewizje

This article explores approaches to wilderness in contemporary urban spaces and the demarcations drawn through the concepts of nature vs culture, politics vs art, science vs narratives, city vs wild life in urban studies, philosophy and environmental art. The argument about the new forms of wild life, such as charismatic animals and weeds in cites, impacts the way in which we think about the encounters between posthuman philosophy, urban ecology and art. The paper seeks to pose the questions of post-natural world anew, in ways that allow for a resolution of the tension between contrary concept of wilderness and urban practices. It argues that all forms of life (human and wild) are connected, reassembled and exposed both materially and discursive in urban socio-ecological systems. This interconnectedness penetrates all dimensions and scales of urban life and is transferable from urban ecology to environmental art, from philosophy to politics, from popular culture to urban environment.

Behind the Colonial Silence of Wilderness

AbstractWhat is the relevance of the concept of wilderness today? For some, the recognition of a troubled history of wilderness regarding people of color does not challenge its pertinence in facing the ecological crisis. However, the author contends that the wilderness concept is problematic because of its inability to recognize other conceptualizations of the Earth held by Indigenous and Black peoples in the Americas and the Caribbean. As a case in point, the author critically engages with a failed attempt to accommodate Black enslaved experiences into a wilderness perspective made by Andreas Malm in a 2018 paper titled “In Wildness Lies the Liberation of the World: On Maroon Ecology and Partisan Nature.” Paradoxically, in suggesting that fugitive slaves’ experiences of “wild” spaces can point to a Marxist theory of wilderness, Malm ignores the concerns of Maroons and Indigenous peoples, including their theorizing voices, their ecology, and their demands for justice. Wilderness is portrayed as emancipatory on the condition that the enslaved and the colonized remain silenced. In response, the author argues that it was not “wilderness” but the ingenious relationships Maroons nurtured with these woods that created the possibility of a world: in marronage lies the search of a world.

Wilderness

James Watson and Oscar Venter introduce the concept of wilderness and its role in conservation efforts.

Backpacking with John Locke: American Wilderness as Liberal Resource

Wilderness defines Americans, but the concept itself lacks definition, prompting premature laments of its demise and cavalier advocacy for its reformulation. I argue in this article that, in focusing more on what it does than on what it is, there is an underlying cohesiveness to the wilderness concept—that its important permutations consistently support and enhance the liberal tradition, especially that part of the tradition that celebrates the wide distribution of human reason. Wilderness and liberalism are perceived as symbiotic, I argue, and it is this relationship that endears wilderness to the American psyche. John Winthrop, Jonathan Edwards, and John Muir, as well as the postmodernists who dismiss him, all share an appreciation of wilderness that appeals to their liberal inclinations. So, while the backpacking motif evolves, John Locke remains a constant companion. And it is only at their peril that scholars ignore his presence.

EXPLORING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF WILDERNESS NARRATIVES IN EUROPE. REFLECTIONS FROM VAL GRANDE NATIONAL PARK (ITALY)

Wilderness is an important concept in the discourses and policies concerning contemporary European protected areas, inherently challenging in terms of sustainability. Since its designation in 1992, the Val Grande National Park, located in northwest Italy, has been portrayed and promoted as a wilderness area, thereby enhancing tourism, whilst disregarding the historical signs of human activity. In this paper we explore the wilderness concept, focusing on the narratives developed in the area, that changed from a strict conservationist approach to a more utilitarian one, influencing the National Park’s policy-making. The research is based mainly on the content analysis of several literary texts. We conclude that wildernessneeds to be reconceptualized so that contemporary European protection policies might become more effective, and we may use our knowledge of nature to promote sustainable development.

Urban Wildness—A More Correct Term Than “Urban Wilderness”

The concept of wilderness (荒野) has multiple characteristics and values relating to three principal areas: biological, socio-economic, and iconic. To provide clarity of concept, the term was included in the IUCN’s list of Protected Area Categories in 1992. More recently, a current and fashionable expression “urban wilderness” has emerged. For those who believe in the critical importance of natural wilderness areas to the future health and wellbeing of our planet, and who work to protect these areas, the term “urban wilderness” causes much consternation. It is very possible that such usages will create confusion in the mind of urban dwellers—now the majority of the global population—as to what “real” wilderness is. By definition, cities cannot be “wilderness” technically. However, elements of wilderness can and should be present in and around urban areas to enhance human health and quality of life. Rather than calling this urban wilderness, however, the term should be “urban wildness (野境).” This paper presents a rationale for using “urban wildness” to replace “urban wilderness,” citing some of the characteristics and benefits of urban wildness; provides case studies of urban areas that are working successfully with the concept; elucidates the role and challenges of wild animals (especially predators) in urban areas; and finally, gives an example of an engagement and educational methodology connecting urban dwellers to wild values and benefits.

Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture by Eleanor Jones

Reviewed by: Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture by Eleanor Jones Laura Turner Igoe (bio) Keywords Alexander von Humboldt, Philosophy, Natural world, Nature, Visual arts Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture. By Eleanor Jones Harvey with a preface by Hans-Dieter Sues. (Washington, DC: Smithsonian American Art Museum in association with Princeton University Press, 2020. Pp. 443. Paper, $75.00.) In the Alexander von Humboldt and the United States catalogue and exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eleanor Harvey takes a deep dive into nineteenth-century American thought and culture to tease out traces of Humboldt, “arguably the most important natural philosopher of the nineteenth century” (25). Although hardly a household name today, Humboldt was one of the best known and admired public figures [End Page 480] until his death in 1859. The Prussian-born naturalist traveled the globe and wrote more than 36 books and 25,000 letters to a global network of correspondents. His theory of the interconnectedness of humans and nature, radical at the time, formed the basis of his five-volume magnum opus, Cosmos: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe (1848–59). An international bestseller, Cosmos had a profound impact on past and current understandings of the natural world, inspiring visual artists, writers, and scientists from Charles Darwin to Rachel Carson. Although Humboldt spent only six weeks in the United States in 1804, discussing the Louisiana Purchase with Thomas Jefferson and inspiring Charles Willson Peale to come out of artistic retirement to paint his portrait, he proclaimed himself “half an American” and had a lasting impact on the nation’s cultural identity through his publications and correspondence. Each of the eight chapters in Alexander von Humboldt and the United States examines an area of Humboldt’s cultural impact—from his influence on early American naturalist–explorers to his lifelong advocacy of abolition and his deep interest in Native American ethnography. Humboldt’s imprint on American thought and culture has received a resurgence of scholarly attention in recent decades, most notably by literature scholar Laura Dassow Walls and historian Andrea Wulf, whose bestseller, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World, thrust the polymath into popular culture.1 Harvey’s exhibition and catalogue, however, cement Humboldt’s significance to the visual arts, as she investigates his impact on Peale, Samuel F. B. Morse, Frederic Edwin Church, Carleton Watkins, Albert Bierstadt, George Catlin, and Karl Bodmer, and their visions of the natural world and its inhabitants. Densely researched and dizzying in its chronological and cultural expanse, the catalogue convincingly lays out Humboldt’s significant mark on U.S. cultural identity and artistic production. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Smithsonian’s extended closures in 2020 and 2021, the Alexander von Humboldt and the United States catalogue has become, in many ways, a stand-in for the shuttered exhibition. Originally slated to open in March of 2020, the exhibition has only been open to the public for nine weeks (three weeks longer than Humboldt’s short stay in the United States). A number of online resources, [End Page 481] however, including lectures, tours, animated videos, and a complete checklist and label copy, provide multiple layers of access during the museum’s closure. Still, the catalogue and these virtual platforms cannot replicate the experience of viewing in person the masterworks Harvey has assembled, including the skeleton of a mastodon excavated by Peale in the early nineteenth century and borrowed from the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, Germany. Harvey described her clearest revelation in “dusting for [Humboldt’s] fingerprints” across U.S. culture as finding his “far reaching influence on the development of what has been called America’s ‘wilderness aesthetic,’” defined as “finding positive value in uncultivated territory” (35). Because of Humboldt, the United States adopted nature and “the concept of wilderness specifically—as an emblem of the scale and scope of our cultural ambitions,” giving rise to the Hudson River School of landscape painting (29). Unfortunately, there is little critical interrogation of the darker side of this “wilderness aesthetic” and its affiliated colonialist enterprise.2 For Americans to embrace uninhabited wilderness as...

Rethinking Wilderness: Wendell Berry, Philip K. Dick, and the Absence of the Wild

The concept of wilderness is fraught. As William Cronon argues in his landmark essay, “The Trouble with Wilderness” (1996), the idea of wilderness some three hundred years ago denoted nature detached from and uninhabitable by humans: “to be a wilderness then was to be ‘deserted,’ ‘savage,’ ‘desolate,’ ‘barren’—in short, a ‘waste,’ the word’s nearest synonym” (70). According to Cronon, the definition changed in the nineteenth century when the idea gained more positive connotations. Instead of a place of darkness and barrenness, wilderness came to denote beautiful and sublime natural landscapes, where one finds spiritual and national renewal (72–78). Crucially, according to Cronon, this later construction of wilderness teaches us to value the idea of nature untouched by humans at the expense of the more modest, domesticated nature in our own backyards (86). Cronon draws attention to the shifts in our conceptions of wilderness over time to argue that the idea is a cultural construct that negatively impacts our relationship with nature. Insofar as they have always denoted nature undisturbed by humans, constructions of wilderness are thus harmful, for they obscure the source of our environmental crisis: our domestic behavior.1

Reframing the Wilderness Concept can Bolster Collaborative Conservation

Indigenous territories represent ~45% of land categorized as wilderness in the Amazon, but account for <15% of all forest loss on this land. At a time when the Amazon faces unprecedented pressures, overcoming polarization and aligning the goals of wilderness defenders and Indigenous peoples is paramount, to avoid environmental degradation.

Conrad and Nature: Essays, edited by Lissa Schneider-Rebozo, Jeffrey Mathes McCarthy, and John G. Peter

Reviewed by: Conrad and Nature: Essays ed. by Lissa Schneider-Rebozo, Jeffrey Mathes McCarthy, and John G. Peters Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (bio) Conrad and Nature: Essays, edited by Lissa Schneider-Rebozo, Jeffrey Mathes McCarthy, and John G. Peters; pp. vii + 328. New York: Routledge, 2019, $155.00, £120.00. As the methodologies of ecocriticism and the environmental humanities continue to advance, what effect might they have on the fate of single-author studies? On the one hand, the precept to "always ecologize" seems to demand that we conceptualize authors and their work within wide, interconnected webs of relation far more dispersed than any single individual. On the other hand, the "bio" in biographical criticism describes an entity fully legible from an ecological perspective: every author an organism, every text a coproduction of the organism and its environment. The editors of Conrad and Nature: Essays, Lissa Schneider-Rebozo, Jeffrey Mathes McCarthy, and John G. Peters, make no claim for the single-author approach; instead, their rationale for the volume, described in the book's introduction, is to reimagine Conrad studies for the twenty-first century. Joseph Conrad's body of work undoubtedly offers a rich subject for environmental analysis. For readers who make their way through the collection, Conrad will emerge as one of the great observers of the nineteenth-century natural world and how it transformed under the devastating forces of imperialism and global capitalism. The breadth of his engagements with sea and with land, and with many different parts of the world, is on remarkable display in the articles gathered here. The first essay collection to focus on nature and environment in the work of Conrad, the volume includes thirteen new essays as well as excerpts from four older, classic works of Conrad scholarship. The approach highlights a remarkable contrast in the way nature and the environment were discussed in literary criticism of the 1980s, 1990s, and even the 2000s—when it was still possible to use the word "nature" without quotation marks—as opposed to the conceptual frameworks that underpin the volume's newer essays. Some of the ways of thinking the human-natural relation in the older essays feel utterly alien from the vantage points of the Anthropocene and climate change, and probably would have seemed so from the perspective of the fast-changing world Conrad inhabited as well. Our current situation of ecological vulnerability allows us to see features of these texts that were less visible a few decades ago, in the flush of neoliberal surplus. Conrad's portrayal of the natural world has long been recognized as central to his work, as the inclusion of these older essays shows, but the very different presuppositions we now bring to such analysis mean that much reconsideration remains to be done. The volume is arranged conceptually with sections on "Conrad and the Anthropocene," "Conrad's Atmospherics," "Conrad, Ethics and Ecology," "Nature, Empire and Commerce," and "Earlier Commentary." The authors of the newer essays have various ambitions and motivations, with some wanting to make an original contribution to ecocritical concepts and methods, and others wanting to trace Conrad's developmental trajectory as a writer of the natural world. As is to be expected, some chapters are more successful than others, but [End Page 320] one will learn from the volume as a whole a great deal about Conrad and about the many different natures he inhabited and chronicled. The volume begins with a showstopping essay by Jesse Oak Taylor on Heart of Darkness (1902), "Wilderness After Nature: Conrad, Empire and the Anthropocene," an essay that aims at nothing less than to salvage the concept of wilderness for the Anthropocene. The wilderness concept, as Taylor explains, has long been rejected for its associations with settler environmentalism, as in William Cronon's "The Trouble with Wilderness" (1995). "What is the 'wilderness' that finds Kurtz out early?" Taylor's essay asks, then answers: not nature untrammeled, but rather "the contact zone between the metropolitan economy and the resource base on which it feeds" (21). By redefining wilderness in terms of "novel ecosystems"—the "distinctive habitats brought into being through human action and ecological disturbance" (22)—Taylor theorizes an Anthropocene wilderness, offering, along...

“Wilderness” revisited: Is Canadian park management moving beyond the “wilderness” ethic?

This paper questions whether the rescaling of conservation practice in Canada to include local and Indigenous communities, NGOs, and private market‐based actors represents a move away from wilderness‐thinking in conservation, and what implications this might have for the future of conservation in Canada. We explore the links between Cronon's “wilderness” ethic and coloniality, racism/sexism/classism, and political economy, and the extent to which recent trends in conservation practice, such as co‐management arrangements, private tourism proposals, and a shift in programming to attract a diverse public to parks, help us to move beyond the limited vision for conservation and environmentalism that the wilderness ethic provides. We interrogate the ways in which the concept of wilderness is being employed, resisted, and transformed by a multitude of actors in three parks and conservation areas across Canada. We argue that although recent developments in conservation practice help to redress some of the worrisome aspects of wilderness‐thinking in parks, they also reinforce and re‐emphasize problematic lines of thinking and praxis. While the wilderness character of Canadian parks has shifted a great deal since the turn of the 20thcentury, the wilderness ethic remains deeply embedded within conservation discourse and practice.

The Comparative Analysis on Country Park Management between Hong Kong and Beijing

With a comparatively mature state of country park development for China, Hong Kong serves as a model that is emulated by many cities in Mainland China. In contrast, Beijing started to establish country parks relatively late, but along with the nascent “Country Park Loop”, achieving scientific and reasonable operation management is now the major challenge facing Beijing. By comparing the differences between Hong Kong and Beijing country park management in terms of positioning, management organization, legal guarantees, supporting facilities and education, this paper explores the factors of social development stage, urban developmental history and planning, the wilderness concept and financial support which are responsible for those differences. In order to achieve sustainable development, this paper shows that Beijing country parks should seek corresponding solutions according to their own characteristics.

A new wilderness for Central Europe? — The potential for large strictly protected forest reserves in Germany

The German National Strategy on Biological Diversity (NBS) aims to establish wilderness areas on 2% of the German terrestrial territory by 2020, however wilderness areas in Germany currently only cover 0.6% of the total land area. Operationalizing the wilderness concept in densely populated countries like Germany where few primary habitats remain is challenging. In this study, we developed minimum criteria (including fragmentation, compactness and size) for forest wilderness areas and assessed their number, spatial distribution and extent for Germany. We tested their ecological representativeness in the main German ecoregions, their compatibility with ecological networks, overlaps with existing protected areas, and forest ownership. Our results revealed a potential for forest wilderness areas to cover 10.3% of the German terrestrial territory for candidate sites ≥1000 ha, which is reduced to 4.1% and 0.6% when applying larger minimum sizes (3000 ha; 10,000 ha). Candidate sites of ≥10,000 ha were restricted to mountainous regions (n = 12) and the less populated Northeast German Plain (n = 4). Forest ownership and protected areas designated to protect cultural landscapes further limit this potential. Our study is a first step toward the systematic planning for wilderness areas in Germany. It shows the country's potential to achieve its wilderness goals, if criteria are adapted to high infrastructure densities and rely on developing wilderness in currently used forests. Considering the number of forest areas that extend over national borders, concerted efforts at the European level could lead toward ecologically valuable networks of protected wilderness areas in Europe.

Ecocriticism Values In The Indonesian Folktale Timun Emas (Golden Cucumber)

The article presented how to learn an Indonesian folktale entitled Timun Emas which related to the process of the environment. The elements of fiction in this folktale, the setting, was a clue in relating the nature and the human which was part of eco-criticism. This research presented the earth-centered approach to literary studies to see how nature was represented in this folktale, what role of the physical setting played in the plot, the values expressed in this folktale, how metaphor of the land influenced the way human treated it, how the concept of wilderness had changed over time, in what way literacy itself had affected humankind relationship to the natural world. It also analyzed the interconnections between culture and nature, specifically the cultural artifacts oflanguage and literature, understanding the ethical system and use it to reform them. This research used a qualitative method which was based on library research. The theory of Glotfelty then was combined with Anthropocentrism to see the human as the center of the hemisphere and how they determine the ecosystem and the policy related to nature. It is concluded that Timun Mas is able to represent the Indonesian culture, human and nature relationship, as well as culture and nature relationship drawn from the values and belief in the folklore.

The Many Faces of Nature: An Ecocritical Reading of the Concepts of Wilderness and the Sublime in John Keats’ Selected Poems

The Many Faces of Nature: An Ecocritical Reading of the Concepts of Wilderness and the Sublime in John Keats’ Selected Poems

Post-industrial urban quarries as places of recreation and the new wilderness – a South African perspective

The objective of this article is threefold: To re-evaluate the concept of wilderness as a place to be experienced by human beings as part of their outdoor recreational needs; to investigate if reclaimed post-industrial urban quarries can fulfil these needs, and to investigate the legislative frameworks in South Africa within which such reclamation and re-use can be undertaken. The objective is not to present detailed case studies of post-industrial urban quarries that have been rehabilitated or redeveloped for a different land use, but rather to demonstrate the potential of such quarries. The majority of South Africa’s population is urbanised and has hardly any prospect, due to various constraints, of ever visiting natural or even ‘man-made wilderness’ areas for recreational purposes. The currently held concept of wilderness is critically evaluated and the need to change our perception of wilderness is discussed. The biophysical and socio-economic nature, as well as the legal framework, within which the redevelopment potential of our ubiquitous post-industrial urban quarries must be viewed, are examined to determine whether they can be reclaimed as outdoor recreation places and a new ‘urban wilderness’. It is shown, through a literature review and examining five case studies, that reclaimed quarries can satisfy urban dwellers’ innate need for outdoor recreational spaces and natural or wilderness areas, albeit man-made and despite the procedural challenges posed by the requirements of the South African regulatory urban spatial planning frameworks and Acts. Keywords: Derelict land, legislative frameworks, outdoor recreation, post-industrial urban sites, quarries, wilderness

Towards a Pluralistic Understanding of the Mediating Concept of Wilderness

This paper addresses the current debate in environmental ethics regarding the notion of wilderness. It has been argued by J. Baird Callicott and Michael Nelson, William Cronon, and others that our current idea of wilderness is deeply flawed, especially insofar as it draws a sharp dichotomy between us and the rest of nature. This paper first explores what it means (and what it does not) to say that “wilderness” is a constructed concept. It then describes some of the key objections and solutions proposed in order to argue that the best approach to understanding the concept and place of wilderness is to embrace a pluralistic approach. This proposal would allow for mutually inconsistent and incommensurable ideas to co-exist without succumbing to the pitfalls of an anything-goes relativism.

Visions of wilderness in the North Bay communities of California

The Wilderness Act of 1964 defines American wilderness as “untrammeled” and remains the guiding law in wilderness management despite harsh critiques of the concept in the intervening 50 years. In the North Bay region of California, the “untrammeled” designation is part of a matrix of protected lands that makes its way into the daily lives of local residents. Using three such cases, a Visions of the Wild festival, the drawn‐out legal battle over aquaculture in Drakes Bay and in upgrading a highway connecting two major North Bay communities, the concept of wilderness is a concept on trial. In each of these cases, the ethnic diversity of the area contributes to conflict in understanding and decision‐making. However, as the festival demonstrates, direct stakeholder‐driven discussion of the concept can highlight shared values in nature despite the apparent differences.