Nature/Culture/Words/Landscapes

Abstract

Nature and culture are key terms in characterizing landscapes, whether in scholarly papers or zoning hearings. Despite decades of scholarship, the complex, circular yet polarized definitions of these terms continue to undermine clear thinking about landscapes.

This article is intended to encourage anyone who writes or speaks about landscapes in any professional capacity to use terms such as “natural” or “cultural” with greater clarity and richness. The linguistic usages and associations of nature, culture, and several closely related terms are considered. It is argued that these terms are not dichotomous, but irreducibly complex—and that their complexity is their greatest value. Those who would reject nature as an unclear concept but still accept culture as a given, or who hyper-idealize nature and distrust culture, need to look more carefully at both. The paper concludes with specific suggestions for writers discussing nature and culture in relationship to landscapes.