1st Edition

Nature's Ideological Landscape A Literary and Geographic Perspective on its Development and Preservation on Denmark's Jutland Heath

By Kenneth Olwig Copyright 1984
    136 Pages
    by Routledge

    136 Pages
    by Routledge

    Originally published in 1984 Nature’s Ideological Language examines the common ideological roots of environmental reclamation and nature preservation. In the general context of European, British and American historical experience, the Jutland heaths of Denmark are taken as a concrete example for a general critique of European and American policy concerning the use of landscape. Two sets of contradictions are highlighted: ideological and practical between development and preservation; and those between scientific, historical aesthetic and recreational motivation for preservation. The book is based on a study of the Jutland heath from 1750 to the present, focusing on the Danish perception of the area as expressed in literary art and in economic journals, topographies and government reports. Against this background, the development of the modern conception of nature is traced and its ideological implications and planning consequences discussed. As a study of humanistic geography, this book will be of interest to geographers, conservationists and planners.

    Preface and Acknowledgements

    List of Figures

    Introduction

    1. The Morphology of the Ideological Landscape

    2. The Nature of Gothic Jutland

    3. Nature as Wilderness Landscape: Ossian’s and Blicher’s Heath

    4. The Politics of Landscape

    5. The "Heath Cause"

    6. Divergent Views of the Heath

    7. Conclusion: Nature’s Ideological Landscape Today

    Bibliography

    Index

    Biography

    Kenneth Olwig