Introduction

Landscape:Between place and Space

-

Enrc HlRscn

This Introduction and the essaysthat follow explore the concept

of landscape
from an anthropological perspective.unlike'exchange,, ,ritual,, ,history,
and
other concepts which have figured centrally in anthÁpological
debates in re-
cent years, landscapehas received little overt anthrofological
treatment.r In
this respect landscapesharesa similar status to the boáy in-anthropology,
that
despite its ubiquity it has remained largely unproblem atized,:,the
majority of
researchershave in effect simply "bracketed" ii as a black box
and set it aside,
(Lock 1993:133).Yet landscapehasa submergedpresence
and significancein
anthropologicalaccountsin two related ways.;L"rrdr"rpe' has
b.Jn deployed,
first, as a framing convention which informs the way the anthropologist
brings
his or her study into 'view' (i.e. from an 'objective' standpoint-the"landscape
of a particular people). Secondly, it has been used to iefer
to the meaning
imputed by locat people to their cultural and physical surroundings
(i.e. how a
particular landscape 'looks' to its inhabitantr¡. Ttt. black
box áf iandscape
requires 'opening' and its contents themselvesbrought into
view.
Dresch has recently commented on how the first of these uses
of landscape
functioned as a standard framing device in the classic monographs
'British of the
school'of socialanthropology. As he nores (Dresch l98B;5d) ,¡tlerrain
is woven into book after book', a convention Malinowski
used to create a
participatory effect in his monographs on the Trobriand
Islanders (,Imagine
yourself suddenly set down . . . alone on a tropical beach.
. ., lnnatinowski
1922:4).2 The convention was reproduced by ihe subsequent
gLneration of
Malinowski's students, such as Firth and Fortls (Dresch t-gSS:
S1-Z¡.In each i
case,the people are portrayed initially as if seen in a recogn
izablelandscape or
picturesqueview. But this 'objective', outsider's perspective
I ,

is soon left behind ,]

in order to capture the native's point of view.
This secondway in which 'landscape'hasbeen used can also l
be illustrated by
numerous examples drawn from recent ethnographies.
Keesing (lggz: zi)
provides a relevant exposition midway through hir *onograph
o¡ it. Kwaio
when discussingthe topic of ancestors:

The landscape of the.Kyaio interior appears, to the alien eye,

as a sea of green, a dense
forest broken periodically by gardens and recent secondary growth,
and an occasional
'lrr

2 Eric Hirsch

tiny settlement.. . To the Kwaio eye,this landscapeis not only divided by invisible
lines into namedland tractsand settlementsites;it is seenas structuredby history.

There is thus the landscape we initially see and a second landscape which
is produced through local practice and which we come to r..ogr,ize pnd
understand through fieldwork and through ethnographic description and
interpretation.
A principal aim of this volume follows from these two related ways of
considering landscape:the conventional (Western) notion of 'landscape' may
be used as a productive point of departure from which to explore analogous
local ideas which can in turn be reflexively used to interrogate the Western
concept. As Parkin (1991: 7) has suggested,it is through this processof 're-
casting cultural ideas and analytical concepts in terms of the tight they may
. throw on each other' that anthropology can succeed in its widest goal as a
comparative discipline.
The word landscapewas introduced into the English language in the late
sixteenth century as a technical term used by painters. It came from the Dutch
landschapand was known in English for some time as '[andskip'. The painterly
origin of the landscapeconcept is significant. What came to be seen as land-
scape was recognized as such because it reminded the viewer of a painted
landscape,often of European origin. Keith Thomas has documented this de-
velopment in England between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It
was particularly during the eighteenth century that this appreciation took a
self-conscioushold in the English context: 'The initial appeal of rural scenery
'
was that it reminded the spectator of landscape pictures. Indeed the scene was
only called a "landscape" becauseit was reminiscent of a painted "landskip"; it
was "picturesque" becauseit looked like a picture' (Thomas 1984: z6s).
This ideal or imagined world as depicted in various genres of landscape
painting (Poussin, Claude, Salvator Rosa) was linked to the perception of
countryside scenery and its subsequentimprovement (through landscapegar-
dening, estate management, etc.): the goal was to achieve a correspondence
between the pictorial ideal and the countryside itself. This tendency is reflected
in the way the landscape concept is applied to an ever wider range of domains
of social and cultural life.3 The late nineteenth-century development of the
garden city is perhaps exemplary here. As Thomas (p. 253) noted: 'Ebenezer
Howard drew on a long tradition when he proclaimed in the 1890sthat "town
and country must be married".'
The interest of Howard's call lies in its goal of uniting in a single place whar
are otherwise seenas mutually exclusive alternatives: an aspiration achieved by
the suburban middle class during the nineteenth century and the working class
during the twentieth century (Cosgrove 1984: 267-8). On the one hand there
are the social and economic opportunities of the town (hard labour and material
rewards) and on the other hand there is the country, offering the possibilities of
an Arcadian, idyllic existence(cf. Cronon 1991: 368 for an analogouscontrast

L .-"'
'Hirsch
Introda.ction 3

rislandscape is not only dividedby invisible but from the 'rural' perspective).As Thomas (1984) has documented in the
nt sites;it is seenasstructuredby history. English context, life in the fi,rst has long been seen as a way of realizing the
potential embodied in the second; today this takes the form of the house with
ially see and,a second landscape which a garden, the allotment, the country cottage, the home in the suburbs, the
and which we come to recognize and. retirement cottage.There is a relationship here betweenan ordinary, workaday
through erhnographic description and life and an ideal, imagined existence,vaguely connected to, but still separate
from, that of the everyday. We can consider the first as'foregrounded' in order
rllows from these two related wavs of to suggestthe concrete actuality of everyday social life ('the way we now are').
ral (Western) notion of ,landscape'may The second we can consider as a
'background', in order to suggest the per-
lrture from which to explore analogous ceived potentiality thrown into relief by our foregrounded existence ('the way
:xively used to interrogate the Western we might be').
¡ested,it is through this processof ,re- 'landscape' entails a relationship between the
Defined in this way, then,
oncepts in terms of the light they may 'foreground' and 'background' of social life. This, after a[[, is what is achieved
)gy can succeedin its widest goal as a in the idealized world of the painted representation;the painted picture allows
us to discern this within the painting itself and/ or in the relationship between
,d into the English language in the late the viewer of the painting and the painted representation. The argument
sedby painters.It came from the Dutch presented here suggeststhat the Western convention of landscape represen-
r sometime as 'landskip'. The painterly tation is a particular expression of a more general foreground/background
rificant. What came to be seen as land- relationship that is found cross-culturally. As we shall see,however, social life
e it reminded the viewer of a painted can never achieve the timelessnessof a painting, although as the essaysthat
(eith Thomas has documented this
de- follow show this is often what is striven for in particular cultural contexts
rcenthand early nineteenth centuries.It (albeit in most cases,without the use of canvasesas such).
r cenfury that this appreciation took a This definition shares similarities, I think, with the argument recently ad-
:ext: 'The initial appeal of rural scenery vanced by Carter (1987). In The Road to Botany Bay, Carter takes issue with
'reduces space to a
rndscapepictures.Indeed the scenewas what he calls 'imperial history': the form of history which
s reminiscentof a painted ,,landskip',; it stage'upon which actors enact significant historical eventssuch asthose leading
'settlement'. In its place, Carter (p. xxii) advo-
ke a picture' (Thomas 1984: 265). to Australia's 'discovery' and
:picted in various genres of landscape 'spatial 'the spatial forms and fantasiesthrough
catesa history'-a history of
[osa) was linked to the perceprion of which a culture declaresits presence'.
r improvement (through landscape gar- Carter's argument is that only mistaken teleology allows us to see early
goal was to achieve a correspondence 'discovered' and later
travellers to Australia as arriving in a land waiting to be
ryside itself. This tendency is reflected 'bring into view' a land
settled. What a traveller (such as Cook) did was to
rlied to an ever wider range of domains redolent with the European experience from which he had originated. One of
ineteenth-century development of the the themes explored by Carter is the trouble such travellers continually had in
As Thomas (p. 253) noted: ,Ebenezer bringing the country into focus: in constituting in new territory a recognizable
he proclaimed in the 1890sthat ,,town coniunction between their'here and now-ness' and a background or horizon to
which this could be related. The way in which Australia was named and settled
its goal of uniting in a single place what corresponded to this positing of a relationship:
r alternatives:an aspiration achieved by
neteenth century and the working class It dependedon positinga'here' (the traveller'sviewpointandorientation)anda'there'
(. . . the horizon). And where such viewpoints did not exist, they had to be hypoth-
t 1984: 267-S). On the one hand rhere
esized,rhetoricallyassertedby way of n¿mes. . . Mountainsand rivers were culturally
:s of the town (hard labour and material But, more fundamentally,they signi-
desirable,they conjuredup pleasingassociations.
lhe country, offering the possibilities of fied differencesthat made a difference.They implied the possibility of viewpoints,
on 1991:368for an analogouscontrast directions. . . (Carter p. 48)
 4 Eric Hirsclt

In Carter's account the relationship between a 'foreground,

(here and now, ing to its
place) and a 'background' (horizon, space)is not incidental
to ;he history and of the Ear
narratives of Australia's colonízatíon:it is central to the way
it was conceived, source of
enacted, and, as Carter stresses,is continually re-enacted
in the present day. everyday
His argument applies not merely to the Europeans who
named and settled similaritit
Australia but also to the Aborigines who * often peripheral or silent in taminatec
the traveller's accounls. Although the 'journeys,
"r.
of the traveller (,discovery, method o
and 'settlement') and of the Aborigines ('thl Dreaming')
were predicated When per
on different cultural logics, both involve positing a relation
between a fore- foregrour
ground actuality and a background potentiality. Á
carter suggests,.what he, diverse e:
the nomad, black or white, symbolised, when he wrote
or danced or simpry centre as
made tracks, was not the physical country, but the enactment
of a historic¿l independ
space' (p. 3a9)' What was continually rl-enacted in
these historically and and retur
geographically adiacent, but culturally different conrexts,
were the forms of defined a
relations thought to have brought the country into view
in the first place (see poles of
Munn 1973a).
cultural ¡
Although landscapehas been singled out here as a distincr
cultural idea and The co
analytical concept it is in fact difficult to isolate it from
a number of related develope
concepts' including place and space;inside and outside;
image and represen- scape har
tation.aEach of these¡elated concepts,which themselvestakeán
a local aspect, drawn att
correspondsto oneof the two poles of the nodon of landscape
outlined above. Cosgrove
The two poles can be arranged in tabular form:
who defir
foreground actuality <+ backgroundpotentiality symbolisi
place e space emphasiz
inside € outside 1e84). Tl
image € representation intrinsict
landscap
The concepts on the left side of the table roughly correspond
to what we would and histc
understand as the context and form of everyd"y, unr"flexive
forms of experi- ground rn
ence (Bourdieu 1977), while rhe conceprs on the right roughly
equare ro the Daniels a
context and form of experience beyond the everyday. The-se
iraté, are often everyday
imagined as standing apart, as relaiively separate and
detached though never intrinsic
completely disconnected.I have referred to ihir as perceived .potentiality'(,the
which bo
way we could be')' The purest form of potentialityis emptiness
itself, and it is into relat
interesting that sacred sites and places ,o-Ltimes physically emptys or make for
largely uninhabited, and situated at some "r"
distance from tú. populations for ing sectir
which they hold significance.
The in
Although the items in the table above have been arrayed in
two columns, it essaysthr
is important that. they are not regarded as unconnected.
They are, rather, definitior
moments or transitions possible within a single relationship,
analogous to the of the cr,
experience of a person momentarily losing his/her way velop an
on a familiar journey
before relocating him/herself by t"f"t"rr"Jto an perspective; or to the
'empty place'which have bee
periodically fills the 'foreground'experi.nce
"*t.rrr"l
befáre reced- second gr
Hirsclt Introd¿tction

'background' location. The Kaya, the empty rirual capital

)etweena 'foreground' (here and now, ing to its customary
this form: it is a
,ace)is not incidental to the history and of the East Africrn Citi"-a, described by Parkin (1991) is of
divorced from the
t is central to the way it was conceived, source of restorativepower, but has long been vacatedand is
distant it shares
rtinually re-enactedin the present day. everyday experience of most Giriama. Though physically
can become con-
the Europeanswho named and settled simiiariiies with the local homestead: tike the homestead it
how an analogous
vho are so often peripheral or silent in taminated and in need of purification. Parkin describes
'iourneys' is performed both in the homestead and in the Kaya'
of the traveller ('discovery' method of animal sacrifice
of the Kaya is
nes ('the Dreaming') were predicated when performed in the homestead, the background potentiality
at thel(aya, the
,lve positing a relation between a fore- foregrourrdedinto everyday experience.And when performed
towards this sacred
tentiality. As Carter suggests,'what he, diverse experiencesof io.égtorrttded place are channelled
momentarily, the experience of potentiality, of life as
d, when he wrote or danced or simply centre as if to achieve,
the background
flffy, but the enactment of a historical independenr and powárful tike the Kryt, ottly to-recede into
to their fragmented quotidian existence' what is being
y re-enacted in these historically and and return the Giriama
between these two
r different contexts, were the forms of defined as landscapehere is the relationship seen to exist
emerges as a
country into view in the first place (see poles of experience in any cultural context. Landscape thus
cuttural prlcess(seeIngol d 1994: 738)'6
different from that
I out here as a distinct cultural idea and The conception of landscapeproposed here isone rather
debatesabout land-
, to isolate it from a number of related developed in related disciplinerrr.r.h as geography, where
(1993: 154) has recently
lside and outside; image and represen* scape h"n", of course, a greater prominence' Ingold
of Daniels and
which themselvestake on a local aspect, drawn attention to this difference as exemplified in the work
researchin this area'
the notion of landscapeoutlined above. Cosgrove (1988: 1), two geographersat the forefront of
7" *lt,rttl image, a pictorial way of reoresenting or
lar form: who define landscáp.
"r is one which
symbolising surrourrdingr'. As Ingold points out this definition
background potentiality process (see Cosgrove
áphasizeJhndscap. rr-"rrrntially static, asthe denial of
space this deánition is that it takes one pole of experience
fqfi+). The probleÁ with
outside experience into
intrinsic to landscape(the representationat) and generalizesthis
representation on the cultural
landscapetout cog,it While it is certainly the case' depending
the fore-
eioughly correspondto what we would and historical moment, that men and women attempt to realize-in
background'
everyday, unreflexive forms of experi- ground what can only be a potentiality and for the most part in the
definition rr.gl."tt what, by contrast, exists as a part of
Ípts on the right roughly gquare to the Daniels and Cosgrou.',
of the experience
d the everyday. These latter are often everyday social ñfe. tneir definition only captures one half
ignoring the othér half and the cultural processes of
ly separateand detached though never intrinsic to landscape,
d to this asperceived 'potentiality' ('the which both pole, of are a pafiand through which both are brought
"*p"rience factors
potentiality is emptiness itself, and it is into relation. A key question, it *o,rld seem, is which socio-cultural
in the conclud-
s are sometimes physically emptys or make for the deniaiof process, a question to which I will return
me distance from the populations for ing section of the Introduction. ,
out from the
The intention of the remainder of this Introduction is to draw
greater detail the
e have been arrayed in two columns, it essaysthat follow a set of common themes which illustrate in
Through discussion
ed as unconnected. They are, rather, definition of landscapeas cultural process sketched above'
literaturé outlined in each section, my aim is to de-
La single relationship, analogousto the of the cross-disciptinary
landscape which
sing his/her way on a familiar iourney velop an anthropological perspective on the debates about
nceto an external perspective; or to the have been *or" in disciplines such as geography and art history; a
"erriral study
e'foreground' experiencebefore reced- second goal is to provide a framework for the cross-cultural comparative
 Eric Hirsch

of landscape:a framework which has been lacking both in anthropology and in guides, advertisementsfc
these related disciplines. immersion in the countr
and the cultural develo
vocabulariesof looking v
a significant form of soc
Nature into Landscape
Green's analYsisfore
The idea of 'nature', Raymond Williams argues, is probably one of the most on the everYdaYexPeri
complex in the English language (1972: 146). Much of his work has been the unhealthY state of P
'sights' I
concernedto clarify the social,political, and textual dimensions of the notion as proliferation of
it has changed over time in the English/British context. Together with the city. The'PotentialitY' t
more recent writings of Keith Thomas (1984), Williams has done much to of immersion in the co
clarify the emergenceof the appreciation of 'landscape' which, as noted, took spectacle, ParticularlY a
hold throughout Europe between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries (see themselves fostered a P
Lovejoy L964:15-16). It is, of course,during this same period that what we larly in the guides and a
now refer to as anthropology had its origins, and anthropology draws on the as text' and more a wa
same common intellectual background which led to the emergence of an metropolitan life in Par
explicit idea of landscapein the Western context. An anthropology of landscape geograPhers, and anth
'l
needs to be clear about this relationship. iowards the Pictorial:
Collingwood identified three relatively distinct periods in European con- the visual as the Prima
ceptionsof nature (1960:3-13; seealsoOlwig 1984: 1-10). He arguedthat the The rise of landscaP
idea of nature prevaient during these periods derived from analogies drawn with bY Green bY sev
from the realm of human society. Where the concept of nature that was genrets emergence,wl
prominent in medieval representations encompassed humanity-]r{¿nr¡s positive relationshiP is
was God's creation and humanity part of it-the place of humans was iect' and the countrY
less certain in the conception of nature which came to prevail in the post- humans in nature beca
Renaissanceperiod.TThat more secular and rational idea of nature depended the relationshiP betwt
on a new and singular abstraction-the abstraction of humans themselves (cf. btions of this Period r
Foucault 1970). And further, this abstraction was related to another set of Gombrich (1966: l
processes-the increasing intervention of humans into what was imagined as opposed to this stYlis
'natural': in the form of
science,agricultural improvement, and the industrial H. t,tgg.sts that land
revolution. of visualization and th
One concomitant of the process of ever-increasing intervention in nature was see below these tra
the simultaneous generation of new ideas of separation, such as that between the artworks Produc
subject and object. It was around these new ideas of separation that the Western the Pacific: historical
idea of landscapeemerged. This has been observed by art historians on the one use of the landscaPe
hand, and by geographers focusing upon spatial and material change on the 1985:ix-x).
other. In Chapter 1, Nicholas Green examines a particular historical example of Gombrich's argum
this process in early- and mid-nineteenth-century France (cf. Green 1990). in debates about lan
Green argues that the growing appreciation of the countryside which he de- Cosgrove 1984:22-
scribes for nineteenth-century Paris cannot be accounted for either by the landscaPePaintingsi:
opening up of the countryside or by changesto it-although these factors were for this develoPmen
undoubtedly signiñcant. What Green argues to have been more important, artworks were no lol
rather, was the contemporary proliferation in Paris of landscape pictures, tour through anonymous
 Introduction 7
rlogy and in guides,advertisementsfor housesin the country, and a more general
desire for
immersion in the countryside. As he suggests:'it was the material
conditions
and the cultural developments germane to the capital that generated
those
vocabulariesof looking which were capableof bringing narure into
visibility as
a significant form of social experience'.
Green's analysis foregrounds two intersecting ideologies which impinged
rf the most o¡ the everyday experience of Parisians during this p.tiod, a concern
over
k has been the unhealthy state of Paris after the cholera efidemic of the lg30s,
and the
re nodon as proliferation of 'sights' such as arcadesand dioramas in strategic parts
of the
:r with the city. The 'potentiality' thus brought into focus was rhe health-iiving
-" benefits
re much to of immersion in the countryside and the ,landscape,itself ,, k.y form of
roted, took spectacle'particularly as portrayed in the dioramas (see Crary l99b),
which
rturies (see themselvesfostered a particular kind of looking. What was stressed,particu-
rt what we larly in the guides and advertisementsfor the countryside, was less the:picture
lws on the as text' and more a way of seeing that was structured by various domains
of
:nce of an metropolitan life in Paris. Green's chapter is an elegant plea to art historians,
-landscape
geographers,and anthropologists alike to abandon their traditional
attitude
towards the pictorial: 'It is time to have done with a commonsensethat
claims
pean con- the visual as the primary property of pictures.'
:d that the The rise of landscapepainting asa distinctive genre predatesthe period
jes drawn dealt
with by Green by several centuries. A theme hlghlighted by accounts
of the
that was genre's emergence, which Green also bring, oui, is the *"rrrr.,
-Nature in which a
positive relationship is constructed betweenthe experienceof a
viewing ,sub-
nans was ject' and the countryside as a desirable 'object'
ü behold. As the place of
the post- humans in nature becamemore open to question than it had previously
been,
depended the relationship between 'foreground' and 'background' in visual represen-
selves(cf. tations of this period was gradually transformed.
rer set of Gombrich (1966: 108-9) has proposed an institutional explan¿¡is¡-¿g
agined as opposedto this stylistic one-to account for the rise of the landscapegenre.
industrial He suggeststhat landscapepainting arose out of the merging of two
cultures
of visualization and the forms of representation valorized by é".h. As
we shall
ature was see below these traditions of visualization are deployed differently
in
between the artworks produced during European exploration and colonization
in
rWestern the Pacific: historical developments that importantly shaped the subsequenr
n the one use of the landscapeidea in anthropology and rehtéd disciplines (see
Smith
le on the 1985:ix-x).
ample of Gombrich's argument is useful to summarize here as it has been influential
.
n 1990). in debatesabout landscapein the neighbouring discipline of geography
(cf.
h he de- Cosgrove 1984: 22-S). Art historians have loig no¿d the p-rolúeration
of
r by the landscapepaintings in early modern market cities such as Antwerp.
To account
.ors were for this development they suggested that in such market-dominated
contexts
rportant, artworks were no longer produced primarily for individual commissions
but
res, tour through anonymous demand.sInstead, GomLrich traced the conceptualization
 8 Eric Hitsclt

of 'landscape' to the aesthetic theories of Alberti and his foundational Sauer's notion of
text of
Renaissancevisual representation, the Ten Books on Arcltitectt¿re.s which took shaPeduring
Alberti had canonized the idea of art as an autonomous sphere of human the emerging field of soci
activity, which should be treasured for its psychological .d"tr. resented by the German
One of the
ways in which such effects could be generai.á *m ihrough man Durkheim) focused on
the depiction of
pleasing 'sights' such as the countryside. This formulation relationship. rs Sauer's
can be linked, in
turn' to the Albertian definition of the picture as a framed the German and French
surface or pane
situated at a certain distance from the viewer who looks through scapeto produce a'
it at asecond
substitute world or 'stage'.lo In contrast to this 'southern, tradition, from a natural landscaPebY'
there
existed a 'northern'tradition of visualization, an 'art of describing' (see area is the medium, the
Alpers
1989¡.tt This latter tradition is not predicated on an Albertian ,párr.'; The force of his
instead,
the emphasis is placed more on the craft of empiri.rl ,epr.sentation. ated with Ratzel), but he
The
prevalence of maps, map-like representations, rnd pi.tures
with a ,realist, procedure for the studY
quality are expressiveof this visual culture.12 eliminating the intrinsicallY
Gombrich suggested,then, that landscapeas a genrewith widespreadpopu- meaning in landscaPewhich
-
larity arose as a consequenceof a dominrrrl 'routñern' aesthetic cannot be reduced to formal{
theory appro-
priating the products of 'northern' realism (Gombrich 1966: tension evident in the retatio
ll4). Éo**..,
this trend, and the emergenceof the notion of landscapeonly the non-subiect-Position of s¡
becamepossible
when the individual subiect cameto be envisaged,following Álberti, analytical concePt. This is eq
asárawing
from pleasing sights in a self-.orrr"io.r, manner (cf. Williams 1973: Gow's ChaPter 2, on the I
f9lsnt
The emergenceof the idea oflandscape is further connectedto the between these PersPectives.1
lztl' central
importance that would henceforth be attached to picturing, peoples is hard to discern fol
mapping, mir_
roring, represenringthe world asrhe only reliable wa¡,of knowlng horizon does not recede awa
ii 1r.. Alpers
1989¡.t: forest has been extensivelYcr
between place and distant s1
such surroundings.
Place and Space By contrast, what the Piro
describes how the Piro Prod
It would be mistaken, however, to see these developmentsassociated circulation, and reciProcal s
with the
Renaissance(particularly the rediscoveryof linear plrspective (Cosgrove produced in this manner' so
l9g5)
and the profusion of map-making) as heraldittg r trdi.al and ittsepJrable 'loci of kinshiP'. An
break seen as
with previous forms of experience.The value ptaced on viewing echoed in several others is t
the world in
Cartesian terms (i.e. 'non-subiective' geometrl space)is part (seeMunn 1986; Cronon 19
Jf a pro¡ect of
making explicit what had previously, and in other cultural üntexts, Piro notions of Place and s
b".r, more
implicit and not necessarilyseparatedout as a distinct way of themselves through the en
imagining oneself
as placed in the world.ra cesses,a point also develoP
An analogous contrast between an emphasis on the particularities the'here and now-ness'ofP
of place as
seenfrom a specific (subiective) vantagepoint and an emphasis by past and ongoing relatio
on the study of
space'divorced as much as possiblefrom a subject-positión, At the same moment this e
has been of central
concern to the way the concept of landscape has been taken distinctive vantage Point o
up in geography
and anthropology (Livingstone r99z: zg0-300). The work these relations: features, in
of the American
geographer sauer, especially his monograph rhe But there is also an arhbi
Morphologt of Land,scape
(1963), is a particularly clear example. land. The Piro must con
lric Hirsclt Introduction

lries of Alberti and his foundational text of Sauer's notion of landscape derived from European trends in geography
ithe Ten Bookson Architectt¿re.e which took shape during the late nineteenth century (especially in relation to
of art as an autonomoüssphere of human the emerging fietd of sociology). The debates between geography (as rep-
rd for its psychologicaleffects. One of the resentedby the German Ratzel) and sociology (as representedby the French-
be generatedwas through the depiction of man Durkheim) focused on what has come to be known as the'society-milieu'
ryside. This formulation can be linked, in relationship.rsSauer's monograph, a combination of insights and criticisms of
ff rh. picture as a framed surface or pane the German and French schools,argued that culture shaped the natural land-
fhe viewer who looks through it at asecond 'cultural landscape': 'The cultural landscapeis fashioned
scapeto produce a
pntrapt to this 'southern' tradition, there from a natural landscapeby a culture group. Culture is the agent, the natural
'art of
¡alization,an describing' (seeAlpers areais the medium, the cultural landscapeis the result' (Sauer 1963: 3+3).
on an Albertian ,pane'; The force of his argument was against environmental determinism (associ-
ipredicated instead,
¡trecraft of empirical representation. The ated with Ratzel), but he considered that his attempt to formulate an objective
resentations,and pictures with a ,realist' procedure for the study and comparison of landscapecould never succeedin
'there remains an aspect of
iculture.12 eliminating the intrinsically subiective element:
pndscapeasa genrewith widespreadpopu_ meaning in landscapewhich lies "beyond science", the understanding of which
pminant'southern' aesthetictheory appro- cannot be reduced to formal processes'(Cosgrove 1984: l7). There is thus a
lrealism(Gombrich 1966: ll4). Éo*.u"r, tension evident in the relationship between the subject-position of place and
p notion of landscapeonly becamepossible the non-subject-position of spacein the way landscapehas been taken up as an
lbeenvisaged,following Alberti, asárawing analytical concept. This is especiallyexplicit in geography.
lelf-consciousmanner (cf. Williams l97j: Gow's Chapter 2, on the Piro of Amazonian Peru, exemplifies the tension
pndscapeis further connected to the central between these perspectives.The cultural shaping of Amazonia by indigenous
ibe attached to picturing, mapping, mir- peoples is hard to discern for people from temperate climates, since a distant
ionly reliableway of knowing it (seeAlpers horizon does not recede away from a point of observation. It is only when the
forest has been extensively cut down and roads constructed that a relationship
between place and distant space can be discerned by those unaccustomed to
such surroundings.
'see' when they look at the land is kinship. Gow
By contrast, what the Piro
,\ describeshow the Piro produce themselvesas people through the production,
pe these developmentsassociatedwith the circulation, and reciprocal sharing of food. He notes that iust as kinship is
fvery
of linear perspective(Cosgrove l9g5) produced in this manner, so the vegetation pattern that surrounds villages is
,b heralding a radical and inseparable break seenas 'loci of kinship'. An important theme highlighted in this chapter and
[he value placed on viewing rhe world in echoed in several others is that kinship and the land are mutually implicated
p' geometricspace)is part of a project of (seeMunn 1986; Cronon 1933).It is through the processesof implication that
iand in other cultural contexts, been more Piro notions of place and space emerge. This is made apparent to the Piro
I out asa distinct way of imagining oneself themselves through the endless stories that recount these implicating pro-
I cesses,a point also developed in Toren's chapter. Through situated narration,
lemphasis on the particularitiesof placeas the'here and now-ness' of place expandsto a more distant horizon, constituted
pSenoint andanemphasison the studyof by past and ongoing relationships such as garden-making and home-building.
fom a subiect-position,hasbeenof central At the same moment this enables the place of narration to have features of a
frn{s:lpehas been raken up in geography distinctive vantage point or perspective on the horizon which encompasses
'space'.
l:290-300). The work of the American theserelations: features, in short, of
The ALorphologjt of Landscape But there is also an ambiguity in the relation between living humans and the
fonograph
p. land. The Piro must constantly make use of regenerated forest and new
l0 Eric Hi,rsclt

portions of the river. These spaces,however, are the source of sickness and The Pictures4
death, embodied in the Piro concept of the 'bone demon'. From the 'fore-
ground' of specific places, then, humans depend on these uninhabited spaces The Zafrrnanit
for potential gardens, villages, etc. The Piro shaman, by contrast, is able to brings to mind
enter these river and forest spacesthrough the use of the drug ayahuascaand to alterations of tl
perceivethem as filled with people. The shaman is thus able to seewhat other degradation.P
men and women cannot in their everyday experience, and to return from his of future rege
shamanicvoyaging with the knowledge required to cure the sick. The shaman alternative We
bridges the relationship between proximate place and distant (largely invisible) to a pre-existir
space. tively,'produt
At first sight the situation describedby Bloch in Chapter 3 on theZafimaniry easy tension' (
of Madagascar could not be more different. Among the Zafrmaniry it would the picturesqt
seem that it is the very presenceof the trees which is the problem. Chopping non-Western I
the forest down is part of the processthrough which theZafimaniry attempt to the pioneerin¡
transcend the precariousnessof their everyday life and to inscribe themselves produced bY I
more permanently on the land. In so doing, they attempt to take on some of the appreciate in
qualities of their ancestors.But despite the Zafrmaniry's deforestative prefer- (picturesque)
ences there is a significant similarity between them and the Piro. In both (Smith 1985
instances there is an attempt to achieve a relationship with a background An imPort
potentiality-to overcomethe perceived precariousnessof their everyday, situ- representatio
ated existence.In the Piro context, this is through an enduring invisible space encounters wl
(regeneratedforest), approachedvia the agencyof the shaman who perceivesit tension in re1
as a place filled with people; among theZafimaniry, it is through a space which tween a Pictu
is temporarily occluded by forest until the latter is cleared to make way for a'descriPtive
visible villages filled with people. In both contexts the relationship between experimentat
place (here in the senseof livelihood) and space(now in the senseof regener- drawings of i
ative life) is accomplished through particular conceptions of mortality and it came to re
immortality (seeBloch and Parry (eds.) 1982). esque, Alber
(na
At marriage the Zafrmaniry construct a house, and if the couple are fecund, represent
the house itself becomesthe focus of an increasingly large and clearly visible with notions
village. Bloch goes on to describe how Zafimaniry notions of altitude, clarity, Smith arg
's
permanence,legitimatepolitical power, and genealogicalseniority are all inter- and more
related. Over time, the initially impermanent materials that are used to con- what he calls
struct the house of such a founding couple are replaced by harder woods, people and ¡
immortalizing marital reproduction. After a period following their death, period was tl
though, another material form takes shape, expressive of the rivalry between a certain na
marriage and siblingship: stone megaliths are erected outside the boundaries of pology this
the village, immortalizing unchanging, static siblingship. And the dead them- (Livingstont
selves,in becoming an increasingly anonymous part of the surroundings, take This tran
on for their descendants that uncaring permanence which, in life, they had peoples of tl
sought to transcend. More recently, the land has come to take on an even more see the initi
ñxed aspect as it becomes usable only for irrigated rice cultivation, and not the Knight, Prir
transient form of slash and burn agriculture which depends on regenerated to be such a
forest. was theorizt
lirsclt Introduction 11
wever, are the source or rr.Urr.rs and The Picturesque
rf the 'bone demon'. From the .fore_
s dependon these uninhabited spaces The Zafimaniry's delight in the 'good views' which deforestation opens up
: Piro shaman,by contrast, is ,bl. ,o brings to mind an ambivalent set of Western attitudes. On the one hand, radical
¡h the useof the drug ajahut,ascaand to alterationsof the land such as deforestationare seenas a form of environmental
shamanis thus able to seewhat other degradation.Placesappear to lose their individual character, with no prospect
ry experience,and to return from his of future regeneration.r6On the other hand, such alterations can, from an
'equired
to cure the sick. The shaman alternativeWestern perspective,be seenastransforming'nature'so it conforms
rteplaceand distant (largely invisible)
to a pre-existing but positive image: making it appear picturesque (or alterna-
tively, 'productive' (Thomas 1984: 267)). Both perspectivescoexist in an un-
Bloch in Chapter 3 on theZafimaniry easytension, each creating the conditions for the other. Certainly, the idea of
ent. Among rhe Zafimaniry it would the picturesque proved to be a powerful framing device for the way in which
reeswhich is the problem. Chopping non-Western cultures came to be perceived,represented,and colonized. Since
rugh which the Zafimaniry ,tt.rrrpt to
the pioneering work of Bernard Smith and his analysis of the artistic works
ryday life and to inscribe themselves produced by Europeansduring voyagesin the South Pacific, we have come to
g, they attempt to take on some of the
appreciate in much clearer terms the close relationship between landscape
he Zañmaniry,s deforestative prefer_ (picturesque) representation and early forms of ethnographical description
itween them and the piro. In both (Smith 1985:ch. 7).
e a relationship with a background An important finding in Smith's work is that European conventions of
rrecariousness of their everyday,situ_ representation(both visual and textual) were transformed as a result of the
ithrough an enduring invisiblé space encounterswith peoplesand placesin this region. His work alsoexemplifies the
gencyof the shaman who perceives it tension in representationaltechniques mentioned in the previous section: be-
¡fimaniry, it is through a spacewhich tweena picturesquemode premissedon neo-classicalideasof Italian origin and
he latter is cleared to *rt. way for a'descriptive'mode associatedwith observation, empirical record-making and
I contexts the relationship between experimentation.It is the latter mode which predominated, for example, in the
space(now in the senseof regener_ drawingsof individual plants and animals (Smith 1985: 112). However, when
cular conceptions of mortality and it came to rendering the local inhabitants and their surroundings, the pictur-
e82). esque,Albertian mode was more to the fore. This reflected the attempt to
'house,and if the couple are fecund,
represent'native'peoplesin terms of severalpredefined conventions associated
ncreasingly large and clearly visible with notions of Arcadia, Eden, primitivism, and 'savagery'.17
fimaniry notions of altitude, clarity, Smith arguesthat the tension between the convention of romantic depiction
d genealogicalseniority are all inter_ and more 'scientific' ethnological information resulted in the emergence of
tent materials that are used to con_ what he calls'typical landscapest:representationsthat would evoke the senseof
ple are replaced by harder woods. people and place characteristic of the area. What became explicit during this
:r a period following rheir death. period was the notion that each country had its own peculiar type of landscape:
i, expressiveof the rivalry between a certain natural physiognomy, as Humboldt came to refer to it. In anthro-
neerectedoutside the boundaries of pology this was a view with which Boas subsequently aligned himself
úc siblingship.And the dead them_ (Livingstone 1992: 291).
nous part of the surroundings, take This transformation in representational emphasis, and the colonization of
lrmanencewhich, in life, they had peoplesof the region, play off one another in significant ways.18Itis possible to
d hascome to take on an even more seethe initial debateamong the 'theorists of the picturesque' (Gilpin, Payne
rigated rice cultivation, and not the Knight, Price) asanticipating in microcosm the colonizing tendencies that were
re which depends on regenerated tobe such a feature ofthe nineteenth century. On the one hand, the picturesque
wastheorizedas'passive'andbound by rules for viewing (asexperiencedby the
 t2 Eric Hirsclt

powerless traveller). On the other, and subsequently, the picturesque

was perceived to exist inside the
theorized as 'active'(as enacted by the powerful colonialist). The first position itigtttigttted in this context
ts
is associatedwith the ideasand writings of Gilpin. The secondarosein
debates people of Nagda Percerve I
¿s
between Payne Knight and Price on the one hand and Repton on the
other industrial estate views as ther
around the narure of landscape'improvement' (Michasiw tisz¡.
The debate surrounding notions of the picturesque in Britain was a reaction
both to the idealized landscapespainted by Claude, Poussin,and Salvator
Rosa Insid,eand Outside
and to the then prevailing convention of the Grand Tour to which
these
paintings gave visible expression.In this sense,the debateconcerned
English/ Raymond Williams has been
British 'nation¿l identity'.re At the sametime the debateabout the picruresque estate owners' imProvers'
tl
in- Britain anticipated a number of subsequentdevelopmentsin the evaluation notion of landscaPe' not thos
of the countryside (seeThomas 1984:262). CountrY and' the Ci'tY (1973)
I
As Smith (1985: 200-2) shows, Cook's voyagesto the South Pacific were the landscaPe idea made
also having a profound effect on the English rnd-European imagination at outside(r). It is this ambig
this
I
time. As earlier suggested,people were coming to tñint not ánly
that each banish landscaPe from the
region had its own peculiar type of landscap., but that the convention period (Livingstone 1992:
of the
Grand Tour itself was geographically far tóo limited:'[the] possibility of ad- i.rrr"d in this ambiguitY tht
ventures in distant colonies and the prospect of painting ,..rr., never painted Flowever' Williams' sha
before, held more attractions than the visit to Italy'. In this regard, voyagesro wl
landscaPeand'outsiders'
the Pacific often formed the prelude to world travel; India became a key ro sust;in. with its implica
destination for many.zo second have an understan
Pinney's Chapter 4 considers how the colonial tradition of the picturesque n"l.r", (see Berger 1972)'it
and picturesque painting in India became transformed into the vizual forrn of notions of inside' and'out
the oleograph ('calendar art'). He explores the relationship between what is cultural and historical cont
representedin oleographsand the industrial town ofNagda where his fieldwork SelwYn's ChaPter 5' o1t
was conducted and where many such oleographsare sold and ,consumed'. outside can shift radicallY
In certain oleographs, the relationship between foregrounded place as repre- events. There is an interes
senting traditional dimensions of existenceexists in an uneasy,oft.tr disjoined century Zionists and Willir
(nature' and enga
relationship with the background space wherein modernity ir t.ptesenred. closer to
was I
Pinney shows that this tension is not just a feature of the r.pr"r"rrtatilnal realm Points out, Zionism
but is part of the lived experienceof inhabitants of Nagda. in other oleographs, d"mPtiu" Process grounde
particularly those incorporating Hindu deities, a unified relationship between hoped to ffansform Jewish
foreground and background is achieved. However, this internal unity is radi- cialism in EuroPe (as out
cally disioined from the contemporary lived experiencesof those who actually between men' women' n'
purchase the oleographs. Indian nationalism sparked off an attempt to resolve insider).
the disiunction between tradition and modernity and in a range oi oleographs Crucial to this transfon
adopted the convention used for deities to represent a unified, iecund, and self- 'fellah' and the Bedouin.l
possessednation: 'It is in this political fiction that horizon and foreground, Bible' and some scholars
space and place, coalescemomentarily'. archs. The image of insid
The political fiction that Pinney draws to our attention is a recurrent theme Past' was one that earlie
'Palesdne'
in the history of nation-states, but it is also, as Bloch shows in his chapter, one The PossibilitY
that does not depend on the nation-state for its existence. Pinney's chapter bY men such as Buber wi
makes apparent the significant but ambiguous relationship between what is túe centralitY of landsca
 F
ñ
i

Eric H,irsclt
Introduction 13
other, and subsequently,
the picturesque was perceivedto exist inside the representationand what outside. What is also
d by the powerful coloniriist).
T;;;.rt position highlighted in this context is the uneasy relationship between what the local
of Gitp_in.
TheseconJ.r;;.in debates peopleof Nagda perceiveas inside their local 'landscape'and what the large
LTit,*r:
nce on the one hand and
Repton on
" the other industrialestateviews as the boundariesof its domain.
!^]To:o,".menr' (Michasiw
I ggZi.
rons of the picturesque in Britain wasa reaction
; painrcdby craudg-poussin,an¿
'nvention of the s"rurror Rosa
Grand Tou, ,o*iH.f, Inside and Outside
n. In this sense,the debate.orr..rrr.¿ these
thesametime rhe debate English/ Raymond Williams has been much cited as pointing out that it is 'outside¡s'-
,ñ;;;ii"rur.rqu. estate owners, improvers, industrialists, artists-who have recourse to the
9! ybseruentdevelop.."i, in'iiJ .urluation
;1984: notion of landscape,not those who actually live in the area in question. In The
262).
,ws,Cook's voyases Country and the City (1973), Williams suggestedthat the conventional use of
to the South pacific were
Lthe Englirt, ,n¿"puropean the landscape idea made apparent this ambiguity between inside(r) and
i*rst"rilon ar rhis outside(r). It is this ambiguity, for example, that prompted geographersto
ple^werecoming to think
not ;;ü that each banish landscapefrom the vocabulary of geography in the post-World War 2
:. of-landscrp., üu, that
the .on*rition of the period (Livingstone 1992: 308¡.ztMore recently, Cosgrove (1984) has dis-
ricallyfar too limited: ,[the]
porriUifiry of ad_ cerned in this ambiguity the ideological nature of the concept of landscape.
the.prospectof painti"s 'live' their
n the visit to Itatv'. I,
,..;;;;;;. painted However, Williams' sharp distinction between 'insiders' who
relude to world i.auel;
his,;;ril'uorrr", ,o landscapeand 'outsiders' who entertain an obiectified concept of it, is difficult
IndiJ b..r.. a key to sustain. With its implications that the first are rooted in nature while the
how the colonial tradjtion second have an understanding based exclusively on commercial,/possession
'space',
r becameftansformed into
of the picturesque values (see Berger 1972), it savours of romanticism. Like 'place' and
e explores the relationship
the visiu} form of notions of inside' and 'outside' are not mutually exclusive and depend upon
U.t*..l, what is cultural and historical context.
industrialtown ofNagda
ri,lr.r" ti,ieldwork Selwyn's Chapter 5, on the Israeli landscape,shows how ideas of inside and
rucholeographsare sold
and ,consumedr. outside can shift radically in the context of national and wider geopolitical
onshipbetweenforegrounded
place ur r.p.._ events.There is an interesting parallel between the interests of the nineteenth-
¡xistenceexistsin an uneasy,
often disjoined century Zionists and Williams'vision of the'insider'on the land, portrayed as
I space wherein n
o1 closer to 'nature' and engagedin more 'authentic' forms of work. As Selwyn
just,r.r,u,,oit ::;lyr.il:ffi::Í* points out, Zionism was less a religious movement and more 'a socialist re-
rf inhabitants of Nag¿r. in órf,., o[ogrrpt
indu. deities, a unifiid r.lr;;;-r'üt.t*..r, r, demptive processgrounded in physical life and work on the land'. The Zionists
hoped to transformJewish life from being basedon a form of hollow commer-
However, tnrs mternal unity
l.ur*
rary
is radi_ cialism in Europe (as outsider) to being a new and 'normal' set of relations
lived experiencesof those
*ho ,"tu"lly between men, women, nature, and work on the land, based in Palestine (as
rtionalismsparked off
an ,r,.d;;; resolve insider).
and in., .ang. oloüs.rpt,
il,l
ItresTod.tnity Crucial to this transformation were the country's existing denizens,the Arab
to representa unified, ó.un¿rrrd 'fellah'and the Bedouin. They were generally seenas'authentic residentsof the
itical fiction that Ilorlzon self_
and foreground, Bible' and some scholars claimed they were descendantsof the biblical patri-
rily,.
dlawsto our attendon is archs. The image of insidenessevoked by the Arabs, as a legacy of the Hebrew
a recurrent theme past, was one that earlier settlers hoped to re-enact through their entry to
t is also, as Bloch shows
i" ñ ;;;r, one Palestine.The possibility of religious and national coexistencewas sketchedout
n-statefor its existence.pinney,s-.hrpr..
ambiguous relarionship by men such as Buber with these images in mind. But as Selwyn subtly shows,
between iot rt i, the centrality of landscapeto Israeli ideas of the nation has, particularly since

¡:: . i-.:¡:
 14 Eric Hirsch

Independence (1948), radically transformed

the relationship between can no longer be PoliticallYst
those perceil'ed as inside and those perceived
as outside. He explores this becomes the ascendantmode
through three case studies and a histtrical
sketch involving related concep- What the shamanic mode
tions of inside ('good'/'us'/rsraeli) and outside
(,bad,/,theñ/Araü. what is as inherent in the cosmos
understood as the contemporary_Israelilandscape
i, th. relationship sustained the patriline. There is an em
between these notions of insideness and
ouisideness and their historical to the repetitive toPonYmYof
transformation.
at the death of shamanswh
Underlying these ffansformations, Selwyn discerns
a close relationship be- specific place, insteadof forg
tween notions of 'defending nature' and 'defending'
the Israeli state. The chiefly mode. However, the s
landscapeis now seenas a'stage'which needs
to be securedfrom two threats: tive centrednessis never far
the demographic expansionorihe Arab population
and the values of American ready to emergeagainasthe r
consumerism. Ironicalry, as serwyn notes, ,the
landscape has now become a out this vast region.
strategicmetaphor in the reconstitution of ihe
very value, fro* which the early The tensions and transfo
settlers attempted to liberate themselves'. The
üüerating potential previously first sight seemverY differen
imagined to reside in the Arab and Bedouin populations
has been recasr as an context. But at the sametil
external threat.
scape-with its emPhasison
The contemporary Israeli caseinvolves a transformation
of the relationship repetitive temPoral moveme
of inside and outside between two relatively 'the
separate peoples and religious the logic of caPitalism:
traditions that were brought into relationship
in orr. .orrr.xt. The tensions that 1991: 92). In the Mongolia
emergedcan be compared with the Mongolian
casedescribedby Humphrey in verticality meansthat'sPaceI
Chapter 6' But in this latter context the tensions
emerge less around specific logic of capital, basedon the
peoples than around competing notions
of agency that are made visible by ever-increasing connections
placing people in the world in radically
diffelenr ways. Humphrey refers to a way of increasingthe teq¡
theseas 'chiefly' and 'shamanist' landscapes.
These are not to be confused with documented, for examPle,I
separate'societies', or with the lands.ri.
,, a preconstituted entity of which historical relationshiPbetwe
there are chiefly and shamanist views. Rather,
,h.r. are now latent, now mani- West'. He describeshow an
fest potentialities present throughout this
cultural region. They emerge and integratesa'landscaPei
through the coniunction of certain ecological,
political, and religious facrors; between'inside'and'outsid
moreover, they are anticipations of one another.
In a similar manner there
Humphrey points out that chieftainship and
large centralized polities have reminiscent of the shamani
tended to arise in the vast region of the central
t...I!r, steppes;shamanismhas ticular ecosystems.Here, ü
tended to occur in more'peripheral'areas where
grurrl"rrá
-gut i, int.rrp.rsed with depersonalizedrelationshiPI
forests, mountains, and irtg. rivers and
lakes. the ecology is only one the togic of caPital brings
factor' Her chapter argues that chiefly and
shamanic landscapesare only con- countervailing tendenciesI
tingently related to one another. The
transformations from one mode to Thomas has discussedüe
another entail differently conceivednotions
of inside and outside. In the chiefly eighteenth century. How, h
mode this is focused around the 'vertical'
domain-mountains being one it out of the kitchen garden
example-and upon the repetition of moving
ritual centresbasedon patrilineal As we saw in the Previo
descent' This in turn is linked to a repetitive
toponymy and to the situational European travellers in the S
characterization of- shamans (and women)
as outsiders. The exclusion of tions of the Picturesquein
shamansrelates to the-accessthey are believed
to have to a spiritual realm that Pacific Islanders were rePre
threatens to subvert the achievemgnt o_f
verticality and to replace toponymic their outsideness-so that it
uniformity with unrestricted variation. It
ir orrtflt en these reperitive centres been a one-way Process.T
 Eric Hirsclt
Introduction 15
ically transformed the
relationship between canno longer be politically sustained that the background shamanic landscape
'd-thoseperceived outriá"-
He'exptores this becomesthe ascendantmode.
",
nd a historical skerch invotving ,lUt.¿ concep_ What the shamanic mode celebratesis difference. Spiritual powers seen
sraeli)and outside (,bad,/,,h;"r,i;;ab).
What is as inherent in the cosmos are channelled towards the person instead of
try Israeli landscaoeis the
..lrtiorrrt ip sustained the patriline. There is an emphasis on laterality and on movement in contrast
rsidenessand ouisideness
r"J-rfr"r, historical to the repetitive toponymy of the chiefly mode. This is given visible expression
ntions,_Selwyn discerns a at the death of shamanswhen they become spirits and are memorialized as
close relationship be_ specificplace,instead of forgotten and erasedfrom the land as happens in the
nature' and ,defending,
the Israeii state. The chieflymode. However, the structural tendency towards verticality and repeti-
ge'which needsto be J..ur.d;;rwo
rhrears: tive centrednessis never far in the background: it is present as a potentiality
the Arab population and
the valuesof American readyto emergeagain as the more dominant social and political form through-
cwyn. notes, ,the lands""p.
rru, il* b..ome a out this vast region.
stitution of the very value.
fro* *ii.t, the early The tensions and transformations documented in Humphrey's chapter at
hemselves'.The liberating
;;;#t previously first sight seemvery different from what we are accustomedto in the Western
and Bedouin populations"has
ú;;r..rst as an context. But at the same time, the tendencies inherent in the chiefly land-
seinvolvesa transformadon scape-with its emphasison the obliteration of spatial specificity, emphasizing
of the relationship repetitivetemporal movement-brings to mind one of Marx's central tenets of
two relatively separatepeoples
o,relationshipin one context.
and religious the logic of capitalism: 'the annihilation of space by time' (cited in Cronon
The tensions that l99l: 92). ln the Mongolian context an emphasis on social and cosmological
rheMongolian casedescribed
b; fi;_phrey in verticalitymeansthat'space [is] collapsedalong the time axis'. According to the
ntext the tensionsemerge
less around specific logicof capital,basedon the dictates of technologicaland market efficiency and
¡ notions of agency thai are ,r¿.
visible by ever-increasingconnections,geography(space)tends to become annihilated as
radically different ways.
Humphrey refers to a way of increasingthe temporal flow of commodities. This process has been
.landscapes. These arc not to bá confused
'!:Ot?:as wíth documented,for example, by Cronon (1991) in his exemplary study of the
a preconrtit"rca
rews.Rather, theseare which historic¿lrelationship between Chicago ('Nature's Metropolis') and the (Great
"nt;tyof
now latent, no* mrrri_ West'. He describeshow an economic process which increasingly interrelates
tghout this cultulal.region.
Th;; emerge and integratesa'landscape' ironically generatesincreasingly sharp disjunctions
.? jj:t:ri:at, potiticrl,r",,J-r.tiil-ris factors between'inside' and 'outside', city and countryside.
)t one another. ;
:ftainship and large cenftalized In a similar manner there are countervailing tendencies in capitalism which,
'fthe centraltreeléss polities have reminiscent of the shamanicmode described above, celebratediversity in par-
steppes;shamanismhas ticular ecosystems.Here, the attempt is to transcend the homogenizing and
tl' areas ylreregrrsshnj;lilil;sed
ersand lakes.But the_..otogy-i; with depersonalizedrelationship between the experienceof inside and outside which
ieflyandshamanic.landscape;il orrly orr. the logic of capital brings about (D. Harvey 1989: 254-9). Sets of such
Th: rransformationsfi;-;;; *r,
"_o¿. .orr_ countervailing tendencies have a long history in, for example, England.
. to Thomas has discussed the problem as it became more apparent during the
lnodonsofinsideandoursid..
, 'vertical' i" ,t. chiefly eighteenth century. How, he asks,can one 'preserve wild nature and yet keep
domain_mountains being
ofmovingritual cenrres one it out of the kitchen garden?' (Thomas 1984: 285).
Urr.¿ on pitrilirr.rl As we saw in the previous section a similar problem was encountered by
toponymyand to the s'iiuational
:_efetid:e
women)as outsiders. European travellers in the South Pacific who drew upon contemporary conven-
fn. .*"irrrion of tions of the picturesque in their attempt to represent native peoples. South
re believedto haveto
a spiritual realm that Pacific Islanders were represented in such a way as to render their (s¡f¡s¡¡ess'-
verticalityand.ro ,.pfr..-toponymic
T,
on."jIt is only whenthese their outsideness-so that it conformed to European visions. But this has never
repetidvecenües been a one-way process. Toren's Chapter 7 describes how the Fiiians have

E;b-d:;
W)

16 Eric Hirsclt L

come to render various Western institutions so that they conform has been suggested above, it is I
to local ideas
about the relationship between inside and outside: how precolonial coincided historically with profo
ancestral
powers (rnana) inherent in the land and the cash-.roppitrg profusion of maP-making for PoP
and Christianity
which accompanied colonialism, cohere in a singl. 'l"n¿rcrpe'. There is, however, another line
It would be
incorrect to view the former as more 'inside' and the latter as
more .outsider. which Cartesianism was directec
Rather, Christianity and capitalist market relations are now encompassed metaphor and'common sense''T
by
the spatiality of Fijian village life. Toren shows how this is
revealed both of memorY' (Yates l99Z)' For Vicr
through the Fijian practice of routinely remarking on the most ordinary
evenrs tradition, knowledge was not, as i
of village life and through more specific narrativls. pre-established either in PeoPle
Her chapter includes an account of the foundation of an ancestral
- chiefly ixtensa).Rather it is found'in soc
house ()'aau).Theyaoulies outsidethe movementsof ordinary
village life, but and surroundings] themselvescl
its outsidenessis perceived as a poten tial of mana,,onethat finds living (Shotter 1986: 199, emPhasisre
embodi-
in the person of the paramount chief. It is in a similar manner that 'sensory toPics' (Greek toqos:
T,t"t mission
Christianity and capitalist cash-croppingare seen¿sporenrialities identities] give rise to "common
to be brought
within the Fijian relationships of inside and outside as construed
ril;gi social activitY which afford comm
narrative.To view one asmore'traditional'and the other asmore .modern, moments in which shatedfeeltng
and
imposed from outside would be to ignore local processesof (ibid.). In contrast to the Cartesia
transformation.
Thus the horizon and spatiality of village life has expandedto encompass Vi"o might be referred to as the
both
State and Christian ideology. But at the sametime thesechanges The Cartesian view aims for a 1
continue to be
expressedthrough local narratives and imagery which emphasize place are not ofcentral concern'a
that such
changesare'in the way of kinship', 'in the way of the chiefs'and ,in iik. r"pt"sentations.23The Vichi¿
the way of
the land'. images and Placedness'At one le
cilable. However, underlYing th
hightighted bY reference to the ¡
Image and Representetion movement, waY-finding, and na
relationshiP between absolutea
The Fiiian example draws our attention to how narratives place and more detached sPac
continually bring
into focus the relationship betweenthe foreground of placeand ,insideness, vantage Point, between images
and
space and 'outsideness'. It is this recurrent, emergent process-expressed with resPect to an imPortant crt
through imagery and metaphor-which a number ofrecent writers Bourdieu states:
have seenas
the central feature of local constructions of landscape (Basso
lggg; Weiner It is significantthat'culture' is son
1991). The narrative dimensions of the Fijian example
counterposed tn another tradition for analysing how people
can also be occurs to an outsider who hasto fi
are seen to be compensatesfor his lack of practic
related to their surroundings. It is one that took nót¿ l"
the West after of a model of all possibleroutes'Tt
Descartesand has often been described as leading to forms
of ,obiectivism, in of landmarks or anYPrivilegedce
socialinquiry (Bourdieu I977).In fact, it was made,or rather of iourneYsacruall
iust suchan emphasiÁon imagery
and metaphor which came to be condemned by the Cartesian
tradition, whose in recognisingfamiliar routeson a I
'rationalistic
programme involved eliminating fro- our. . . language. .
. alt the axÁ of the field of potentialit
figurative and metaphorical conceptions, all eipressior,s that
could be under- bodies,and carriedaboutwith usu
stood only by referenceto images'(Hampstrire tqog:477). practical spaceinto right andleft, u
The goal of this
programme was to find a secure basis of knowledge,
untainted by all outside Gell's Point is that there is an
influences. The language that was aimed for may bJreferred
'finding to as aianguage fo. the tnative' does not have reco
one's feet in the world'-knowledge as secureasan artefactuaimap. 505-8; P. HarveY 1980)' Muc
As

.t¿-
 Eric Hirsclt
Inn'otluction t7
n insdtutionsso ,n:r
rl., conform to local it is not accidental that the views of Descartes
id been suggestedabove,
:l,'ljlr:
landand ;ü";i11,1,,ances,has
:: 1:",,,q., coincided historically with profound developments in cartography and the
the ,"í'Éii:r.,;T,!l
'rdü;;::
"rrh_..opr,lr, profusion of map-making for popular consumption in Western Europe'
?::l','T",r:^l^:iq':
more 'inside, tl
andther"rr.r-J_*.;:wour¿ be There is, however, anóther line of thoughtgives
in the Western tradition, against
Iist market relatior fi::ilJ{ a central place to imagery,
which Cartesianism was directed, which (art
ury f,'."'il'iJ'nff
utinely
irll,',T:#:trjT# metaphorand'common sense'.This is what has come to be known
of memory' (Yates lggl).For Vico, perhapsthe most ambitious theorist
as the
in this
remarkinE
on the _orior¿in"rr.u"rrr, Descartes, to be found in anything
specificnarrativJs. tradition, knowledge was not, as it was for
(res
urit of the foundatio¡ pr.-.r,rúlished .iiher in people (res cogitazs) or in the surroundings
of.an ancestral chiefly identities of feeling they [people
ide the movements )rtrnro). Rather it is foundlin iocially shared
of ordin;;';ü. them'
otentialof rnana,one Iife, but and surroundings] themselves create in the flow of activity between
that fi;: fiffi embodi_ The identities are what Vico calls
¡nt chief It is in a (Shotter 1986: i9"9, .tttphasis removed). 'because
,irn¡1", _r;;ril:, .'sensorytopics' (Greek top¡s : place). This term is chosen [these
oppingareseenas mission
porendrliti."to ü. in a flow of
¡f inside and outsld. brought identities] iiu. ,ir. to "co^mmonflaces", i.e. to shared moments
; ;;;;;;í and because they are
rditional'and the d,.o,rgh socialactivity which afford common reference, "sensory"
other ., ;;,;;ern, shared circumstances are created'
and momentsin which sharedfeelingsfor already
T,,1qi"i:"local processes of t rrrrfo.marion. of knowledge and language, that of
vrtlagelife has exr (ibid.). In contrastto the iartesian tradition
-,h. :d;ril:,1'.:üÍ#.:i:#,11,j¿T¡
Vico might be referred to as the
'language of involvement'.2z
The cartesian view aims for a formof absolutepositionality. The specifics
of
s and imagerywhich ..r#;.'*r,
'in goal is to achieve clear and distinct map-
, thewayoithe chiefs,il such placeare not of central concern, as the
a priority to
tn # wayof iik. rrpr.renrations.23The Vichian view is more relativistic, giving
two viewpoints appear to be irrecon-
imagesand placedness.At one level these
difference is a link which can be
cilable.However, underlying the apparent
practice of everyday
hightighted by refer.rr". io the almost taken-for-granted
a
movemenq way-finding, and navigation. In fact, Gell (1985) has discerned
positions (between attachment to
.-ntionto how relationship between absolute and relative
narratives continually
bring place and more detached space, between a sense of inside and an external
1.^3::""undofpra".il;ñü; j,s,an this idea
emergenr d urn,rg. point, between images and representations)' Gell develops 'obiectivism''
,:rr.llt*l p.o."..__""fr.rr.d which Bourdieu makes of
with respect to an importani critique
ofrecenrwriterst
::,11_""Tper
crrons ru.'r".n Bourdieu states:
of landscane (Bassá,rrr; Weiner ", which
,^..of t. .
Fijian example can It is significantthar'culture' is sometimesdescribedas a nmp;it is the analogy
or analysinghow also be to find his way around in a foreign landscape and who
or.,rrr1o an outsiderwho has
i one rhar took ggoni. ,r. ,..f"ro be compensates for his lack of practicalmastery, the prerogative of the native,by the use
hold ;, ,h. WIst
to formsof ,objectivism,
after of a Lodel of all possibleroutes.The guffbetweenthis potential,abstractspace'devoid
:1.i:.leading
t, rt wasjust suchan in of landmarksor any privileged centre . . . and the practicalspaceof iourneysactually
e:npharii on i."g"ry made,or ratherof iárrrt actuallybeingmade,canbe seenfrom the difficulty we have
thecartesdd;;;;rno," "yt on a map or town-pl4nuntil we areableto bring together
ii3:{?r from
rmmafing in recognising familiar routes
'systemof axeslinked unalterablyto our
or the a*Á of the field of potentialitiesand the
tampshire .3ltfi:';;j#
T-':'il.:ipÑ;^,h';
te6e:477.).
bodies,andcarriedaboutwith us whereverwe go', asPoincaréputs it, which structures
d;;; li *,, practicalspaceinto right andleft, up and down, in front andbehind (Bourdieu1977:2)'
:, l$:tedge,^untainted by ail outside Gell's point is that there is an underlying assumption in this quotation that
:[:"r:T]l.H[TJ"*::i]'l'ür",
rn artefactual
the.naiive' doesnot have recourseto'maps'(cf. Hartey and Woodward 1987:
map. As 505-8; P. Harvey 1980). Much of course depends on how a map is defined'
 r8 Eric Hirsch

Gell suggeststhat in defining a map it is first important

to distinguish between and the land are involved in a
relative, subiect-centred forms of knowleag. (*rri.h
he calls indexical) and instance everydaYimagesand
absolute, non-subject-centred spatial knowiedge (non-indexical).
According the other in what is concePtu
to this distinction a map may be defined ,, ;rrry
system of spatial know_ birth, reinforced at marriage
ledge ' ' ' which takes the form of non-[. . .] indexical
staremenrsabour rhe the 'soul', a manifestation of
spatial locations of places and objecrc'
119gi, z7g).Images, by contrasr, are death the soul returns to tht
indexical forms of knowledge, in_that they always
'are have a sensory form. Thus, Land. MorphY quotes Mun
images perceptually based beliefs *t rt is where in relation to a Dreaming [ancestralPast]is
percipient subject'(p. 280).In contrastto"úout
Bourdieu, rhen, Gell arguesthat it is re-embodied as a living entity
only on the basisof non-indexical knowledge (maps)
thar indexi.il krro*ledge death.' Image (as lived exPer
(images)about currenr locations and object, ,r.
established. ing potentiatities for the lifi
For analytical purposes, while it is important to
be able to distinguish continuallY re-create eachotl
between images and maps, in pracrice, as Gelr (pp.
z7s-'g0) suggesrs,images In Arnhem Land then, birt
and maps flow one into the other in mutuatty retateO
ways. This is brought out which what we refer to as tl
with particular subtlety in a number of ....rrt studies 'images') onlY to I
oiAurtrrlian Aboriginal visibte (as
peoples which have drawn inspiration from
Munn's study of the Walbiri everyday practice (as ancest
(Munn 1973a).Her analysis of Walbiri graphic
represenrarionsreveals how Western Desert, but as LaY
they are 'wavs of depicting different spatiaidistributions
of locales,and are rhus differently articulated in th
sometimesreferred to as .maps, (Munn 1973a: 136).
Morphy,s Chapter g different ecologicalsituation
highlights this intrinsic relationship of image and
map in the votngu conrext as water supplies in the West
it comes to be focused around the primaci of place.
His chapter also presenrs impinges on the distinctive
an interesting variation of the Mongolian .rr. iir.ussed
by Éumphrey. In the Layton focuses.His engagen
Mongolian context diversity and change are related
to the sharrrrni. landscape a land claim for Anangu Peo
while 'unchanging' structure resultr fro- the ascendancy
of the chiefly form. in his chapter arises from tht
In the Yolngu case,by contrast, contingent change
is recurrently incorporated into legal or anthroPologica
into ancestral, unchanginB structu... ih. focal"point
of this pro..r, is local As in the Yolngu context
notions of place.
having been created bY anc
Much of Morphy's account is devoted to describing 'time of law
the manner in which ffanslates as the
conception of place has precedence over time
in yolngu ontogeny. This the scrutiny of the white Ar
is evident in the structure of languagewhere notions 'emplacement,
of are par- rights and boundaries,unan
ticularly prominent-analogotrio the more familiar
processof ancestralbeings track?" is, for instance,a n'
continually turning into place. However, this ordered
and frozen world of the land claim hearing.'
ancestralpast is only re-created in personal experience
through the movements Such a question reflectstl
made by personsand collectiviti., L.t*".r, pla..r.
Morphy rferk, of the rracks edge in a particular form: to
created by ancestral beings, before they béca*"
'mythological trrrrrfor*.¿ into prace, as a that it is possible to sPecif
map'. The notion of 'map' should be noted here. It Western Desert do not hav
is a form of
representation ¿t once distant froT the-everyday
field of experience of yolngu describes, it is just that tht
men and women' but which is continually broujht
into this presentationalfield based knowledge into legal
through narratives, songs, marriage practices,
and ritual. Like a more conven- Layton's chaPter can thu
tional, artefactual map it is drawn upon for
the purposes of orientation and to demonstrate a Problem
action: whom to marry or not to marry, what
to hunt and what not to hunt. meaning of a word or Phras
Morphy describeshow this senseof orientation and
action is also a product is a debate which goesto th
of kinship' As we have seenin a number of the
essaysdiscussedabove,kinship post-modernism. He advo

-i -:*
\z ,-: r¡
 Eric Hirsch Introdaction 19

map.it is first important to distinguish

between and the land are involved in a processof mutual implication. In this Australian
t of 'flow' one into
llo-*ledge (which he calls irdexical) and instanceeveryday images and the ancestral,mythological map
spatial knowledge (non_indexical).
According the other in what is conceptualizedas a lifelong'journey'. This is establishedat
¡ be defined as (any system
of spatial know_ birth, reinforced at marriage, and completed during mortuary ritual. At birth
r of non-[. . .] indexical statements
about the the 'soul', a manifestation of ancestral power, is inside the person and at the
obiects'(1985: Z7B).Images, by contrast,
are death the soul returns to the ground, taking a unique route across Arnhem
t, rl1^úrl always have a ,.nrory 'In this sense, the
form. Thus, Land. Morphy quotes Munn (1973b: 199), who notes:
beliefs about what is where in relation
to a Dreaming fancestralpast] is continually coming out of the ground and being
ontrastto Bourdieu, then, Gell argues
that it is re-embodiedas a living entity, as well as continually returning to the ground in
:alknowledge(maps) thar indexicll
knowledge death.'Image(as lived experience)and map (as the marks on the land indicat-
; and objectsare established.
ing potentialities for the life-course as well as its objectification at death)
ile it is importanr ro be able to
distinguish continually re-create each other.
ractice,as (pp. 27g_g0) suggests,images
-Gell In Arnhem Land then, birth, marriage, and death are particular moments in
:jn mutually relaredways. This Is"broughr
our which what we refer to as the landscape of the Yolngu is made temporarily
rber of recent studie, oiAurtralian
AbJriginal visible (as 'images') only to become part again of the invisible background of
piration from Munn's srudy of
the Walbiri everydaypractice (as ancestralmap). These same processesare evident in the
Walbiri graphic representationsreveals
how Western Desert, but as Layton makes clear in his Chapter 9, we find them
entspatialdistributions of locales,and
are thus differently articulated in this cultural context. This is a consequence of a
;' (Munn 1973a:136). Morphy's
Chapter g different ecologicalsituation (seasonalwater in Northern Australia vs. irregular
rip of imageand map in the yolngu
context as water supplies in the Western Desert). It is this ecological context which
Leprimacy of place. His chapt., Iho 'discourse' on which
presents impinges on the distinctive style of Western Desert
cngoliancasediscussedby Humphrey.
In the Layton focuses.His engagementwith this discourseoccurred while working on
changeare related to the sha-rrri.
landscape a land claim for Anangu people of Uluru (Layton 1986). The stance he adopts
ults from the ascendancyof the chiefly
form. in his chapter arisesfrom the problem of translating Western Desert discourse
:ontingentchangeis recurrendy incorporated
into legal or anthropological discourse.
iure. The focal point of this process
is local As in the Yolngu context, the land of the Western Desert is thought of as
having been created by ancestral beings during the tjukurpa, which Layton
devotedto describing the manner
in which translatesas the'time of law'. When these local conceptions are brought under
ence over time in yolngu ontogeny.
This the scrutiny of the white Australian legal system intent as it is on specifying
nge where notions of ,emplacemeirt'
,r. prr_ rights and boundaries,unanswerablequestionsarise: "'How wide is a dreaming
I the more familiar pro..r, of ancestral
beings track?" is, for instance, a nonsensical question which was posed at an earlier
)wever,this ordered and frozen
world of tñe land claim hearing.'
personalexperiencethrough the
movements Such a question reflectsthe Australian State's attempt to render local knowl-
betweenplaces.Morphy sfeaks of
'e they the tracks edgein a particular form: to imagine that a'track'is a cartographic category and
becametransforméd into place, as 'width'. It is not that the inhabitants of the
a that it is possible to specify its
f 'map' should be noted here. It
is a form of Western Desert do not have recourse to non-indexical maps of the kind Gell
the.gvgrfday field of experience of yolngu
1 describes,it is iust that they would not ordinarily separateout such image-
tinuallybrought into this presentational
field basedknowledge into legalistic 'objects' of discourse.
E pracdces,and ritual. Like a more conven_ Layton's chapter can thus be read at two levels. At one level it is an attempt
I upon for the purposes of orientation
and to demonstrate a problem of referential meaning: the manner in which the
narry, what to hunt and what not
to hunt. meaning of a word or phrase is shaped by the contexts of its production. This
ie of orientation and action is also
a product is a debate which goes to the core of current concerns about the limitations of
Lmberof the essaysdiscussedabove, post-modernism. He advocates a view of language where it is seen to have
kinship
 20 Eric Hirsch

practical import; language is used ro ger things done (see Shotter In this highly audibleworl
19g6;
Merleau-Ponty 1962). landscapeis present-onl-v Pa
Secondly, the chapter showshow image and map are interrelated differently no central vantage Point fron
in the Western Desert and in Arnhem Land. Again, Layton argues that Umeda context that which i¡
this
difference arisesfrom the more precarious ecology of the former. In the West- close. Hiddenness takesthe
ern Desert one is neither born into, nor doesone return to, a place as part of landscape that the Umeda inl
'ancestral an
grid'or'map'. Rather, one looks after or .holds, a.ourrtry. The map
here, as a form of non-indexical spatial knowledge, engendersa difierenr This landscapeis constructedc
sense
of orientation. It is less a grid of ancestraltracks for ihe prescription of mar- distally it comprisesa codificat
riage, hunting, etc., and more a facilitator for the extension of ,.rch practices it comprisesthe basicunifvingI
in soundand,throughtheautokin
as many directions as possible(alongancestraltracks). The idiom of siblingship
(of 'holding' a person and a place simultaneously) is the social mechanism ation, productiveof sound.
through which this is achieved.The day-to-day exierience ('images') of access Gell describesthe schemasir
to food and water exists in coniunction with the background'poteitial of all of experience.Through his
the
possibletracks that might be held. The Western Desert map is one based soundscapeof the Umeda is
on the
accumulation of relationships in contrast to the replicatián of a pre-existing 'vertical fence',
there is the
pattern. background horizon. Phonok
Although the differences between Western and Northern Australia have strained sounds suggestiveo
been sffessed here, what is common to both regions is the high degree there is the proximate villa¡
of
visibility. A cultural value is placed on visuality, which is givén iconic express this opPosite PhYsic
ex-
pressionin the graphical symbolism analysedby Munn (lgn;) in the tures is analogous to the P
Wesrern
Desert and in Arnhem Land by Morphy (1991j. It is pertinenr rhar anrhropol- traverse their surroundings.
ogists working in the forest environments of Papua New Guinea have understood as arising from t:
drawn
comparisons and contrasts with, for example, the walbiri ethnography. understood dynamicallY,as I
Weiner, who worked with the Foi people of Papua,has recently commented on What Gell's chaPter higl
such parallels, focusing in particular on the inscriptive activities of men 'images' and non-indexical'
and
women in their everyday movements, and in relation to the tracks of The auditory maP of Um
their
ancestors as recalled through Foi place-names,dreams, and songs (weiner language; the maP is in a
l99l: 196-7). Central to both cultural contexts is the prevalence o? iconicity: Through their speech,Ume
in the Walbiri context this is articulated graphically, in the Foi conrexr, constitute through moveme
linguis-
tically. The underlying basisof this diffárence is tlhepoinr of departure distant (least visible) and n
for the
final chapter by Gell, which draws upon his fieldwork among Umeda landscape.
rhe umeda
people of New Guinea. Gell's contribution thus b
Among the umeda, the relationship between everyday .images' century France Presentedi
and the
senseof a more encompassingrepresentation ('map') is not etrget claim that the visual is the Pr
dáted primar-
ily through the use of sight. Gell arguesthat a denseforest environment
of the visual articulates differentia
sort that the Umeda inhabit imposes a 'reorganization of sensibility,, the precise social and histor
different
in kind from that which developsin more 'open' environments. ments associatedwith the r
Language here
takes on a salienceadditional to that which ii possesses in more visual cultures. ditions for bringing the cou
Specifically, Gell suggeststhat in cultural/environmental contexts as with the Umeda, it was 1
where a
single sense modality is dominant (hearing, in the case of the with other factors that stres
umeda, where
sight is so often obscured by forest and 'views' so rare), then tacle, which facilitated the
iconicity is a
pervasive feature of language.2a each context, landscaPeem(
 Eric Hirsch 2l
Introduction
used ro ger rhings done (see
Shorter 19g6: In this highly audible world nothing that we rvould understandas a (r'isible)
landscapeis present-onlv partial glimpses(compareGow's chapter).There is
;forv imageand map are interrelated
differently no central vantage point from rvhich a synoptic view can be obtained. In the
Arnhem Land. Again, Layton argues
that this Umeda context that which is visible is by definition that rvhich is physically
: precariousecorogyof the former.-In
the west- close.Hiddennesstakes the form not of invisibility but of inaudibility. The
nto) nor doesone return to, a place 'articulation', as Gell calls it:
as part of an landscapethat the [Jmeda inhabit is thus one of
r, onelooksafter or ,holds, a country.
The map
Ispatialknowledge,engend.r, This landscape is constructedout of the interfacebetweentlvo kinds of experience;
diff.rent sense
"
of ancestraltracks for ihe prescription distallyit comprisesa codificationof ambientsound,that is, a soundscape,proximally
of mar_
facilitatorfor the extensionof ,u.h it comprises the basicunifying armatureof the bod.vasa soundingcavitl', sensitiveto
practicesin
r,longancestraltracks). The idiom soundand,throughthe autokinetically sensedexperienceof verbalandmimeticvocalis-
of siblingship
üacesimultaneously)is the social ation,productiveof sound.
mechanism
The day-to-dayexperience(,images,)
of access Gell describesthe schemasin Umeda languagewhich encode these two forms
Lnctionwith the background'poteitial
of all the of experience.Through his description we are able to understand how the
d. The WesternDesert map is one
basedon the soundscapeof the Umeda is bounded conceptually.At one physical extreme
r contrastto the replication of
a pre_existing there is the 'vertical fence', made up by a tall local ridge, which suggests a
backgroundhorizon. Phonologically this is encoded through rounded but con-
.weenWestern and Northern
Australia have strained sounds suggestiveof encircling limits. At the other physical extreme
to both.regions is the high degree
1T"," of there is the proximate village knoll; phonologically this is encoded so as to
lacedon visuality, which is given
iconic ex_ expressthis opposite physical extreme. The encoding of these linguistic fea-
tsmanatysedby Munn (1973a)in
the Western tures is analogous to the physical movements through u,hich the Umeda
Vlorphy(199l). It is pertin.rríthrt
rnrhropol_ traversetheir surroundings. In other words, the linguistic features have to be
ronments of Papua New Guinea
have drawn understood as arising from transient sounds and articulations: they have to be
for example, the Walbiri .thrrogrrphy.
I, understood dynamically, as movements.
i peopleof Papua,hasrecentty.o**.nted
on What Gell's chapter highlights is that the relationship between indexical
:ular on the inscriptive activities 'images'and non-indexical'maps'is one which is not restricted to aisualforms.
of men and
nents, and in relation to the tracks
of their The auditory map of Umeda finds its physical manifestation in spoken
ri place-names,dreams, and songs
(Weiner language; the map is in a sense re-created through these auditory means.
rlturalcontextsis the prevalenc.
o'ii.orri.ity, Through their speech,Umeda men and women expressin languagewhat they
in t-heFoi context, linguis_ constitute through movement and through practical and ritual action: the most
:ttr,:9p*Ohically,
tusclrtferenceis the point of departure
for the distant (least visible) and most proximate (most visible) dimensions of the
¡ws upon his fieldwork among
the Umeda Umeda landscape.
Gell's contribution thus brings us back to Green's discussion of nineteenth-
onship between everyday .images,
and the century France presented above: the argument against the common-sense
:esentadon(,map') is not engendéred
primar_ claim that the visual is the primary property of (landscape)pictures. Rather, the
rgues that a denseforest environment
of the visual articulates differentially with the other sensemodalities, depending on
sesa 'reorganizationof sensibility,,
different the precisesocial and historical context. In the French context it was develop-
n more'open, environments.
Lanjuage here ments associatedwith the metropolitan centre of Paris that created the con-
rt which it possessesin more uiru""l cultures. ditions for bringing the countryside into view in a distinctive way. In a sense,
t cultural/environmental contexts
where a as with the Umeda, it was the lack of spatial views (in urban Paris), together
(hearing, in the caseof the
Umeda, where with other factors that stressedthe experienceof commercially produced spec-
:st and 'views' so rare), then 'landscape'. In
iconicity is a tacle, which facilitated the emphasis on visualizing nature as
each context, landscapeemergesas a form of cultural process.
 22 EricHirsch
Conclusion:Landscapeas Cultural process most Part in the backgrou
tiatity exist in a Processof
The model of landscapedevelopedin this Introduction is one predicated
on the never attain the idealizedfe
idea of landscape as process. The individual essaysdraw this limit, to denY Proces
out this process
ethnographically.More generally,it has been suggestedthat
this processis one Cosgrove suggests.And it I
which relates a 'foreground' everyday social life for ihe cross-cultural stud
'background' 1'us the way ie are') to a
potential social e"isience ('us the way we might be'). concerns in anthroPologY
It is a
process that attains a form of timelessnessand fixit-v in Ortner (eds.) 1994).26
c"rtain idealized and
transcendent situations, such as a painted landscaperepresentation, Although the framewot
but which 'unPackin
can be achieved only momentarily, if ever, in the human opening uP and
world of social
relationships. This last point requires further comment
and also raisesan issue réfusal to sPecifYa Precis
which has been influential in the study of landscape
outside anrhropology. emerged as a result. Place
-Cosgrove (1984: 32) has argued forcefully that iandscapeimplies the denial resentation cannot be arr
of process: 'ir is process [that] landscape,, ,r, ideologilal
concept formally homologues of one anothe
denies'. Landscape, as discussed by cásgrove, 'absolute' landscaP
is baseá o, , ,.rát";;ffi; is no
concept's historical emergencethat emphasizesits
visual, painterly dimensions. space, inside and outsideI
Landscape in this interpretation is a réstrictive
way- of seeing which privileges cultural and historical con
the 'outsiders" point of view, while sustaining
a radical spül between insiders This last Point returns
and outsiders on the land: between those whJ relate ,directly,
to the land and Introduction. There it wa
those who relate to it as a form of exchangevarue
(cosgrove r9g4: 269-70). anthropologY to that of th
It is certainly the casethat the historicaiemergence
- of the Western notion of unproblematized (a situat
landscapeimplied ways of viewing and relating"to
the land and surroundings the presentation here)' H
thatwere not previously explicit. Iialso gru.
to notions ofinside and landscaPe,there is no'abs
outside that were previously less evident. "*iression
Bui to suggest that the landscape and a PercePtual surroun
concept implies a denial of processis to confuse
what appearsto be striven for transformative nature of
in artistic representations,gardens,¿nd estates,
and what, by contrast, exists as especiallY evident in Pi¡
a part of everyday social practice (cf. cosgro
ri tggl, 250_"1). tations. Here we frnd trr
We have seenabove (and this is described in some
of the essaysthat follow) contradictions enactedon
that in certain contexts men and women endeavour
to attain a timeless perma- porary India. At one mom
nence reminiscent of that achieved in landscape
painting: the ,picturesque, foregrounded'tradition'
Zafimanity villages-andtheir apogee,the stone
megatiths outside their bound- single representation.At
arres)come to mind here. But as Bloch reminds
usl these Zafrmanir,¡ attempts seems to Predominate, or
to overcome what they seeas the uncaring permanence
of the land result only tradition and the moder
in a pyrrhic victory: the permanent stones
themselves become part of that appears to be momentari
uncaring environment. or again, in a different
setting, outside agencies political fiction of a unifi
such as the state attempt to impose on native
categoriesand practice a fixity but a series of related, il
and permanence associated with an artefactual
*rp as Layton describes for here in what can be rec
Western Desert Aborigines.tt By contrast,
the Mongolian case detailed by process.
Humphrey shows how the tendlncy to
'chiefly'mode) deny laterarity and movement (her
coexists with a landsáapemode that celebrates
movement and Notes
toponymic difference.
The point, then, is. that landscape is a process
in so far as men and women This Introduction has be
attempt to realize in the foreground what
can only be a potentiality and for the number of PeoPleto whom
 Eric Hirsclt Introduction 23
lultural Process most part in the background. Foreground actuality and background poten-
tiality exist in a processof mutual implication, and as such everydaylife can
pedin this Introduction.isone
predicatedon the neverattain the idealized featuresof a representation.The attempt to transcend
The individual essaysdraw out
this process this limit, to deny process, brings us to questions of power and history as
ly, itlas beensuggesiedthat this
pro..r, is one Cosgrovesuggests.And it is in this context that the framework proposed here
verydaysocial life (,us the way
ie are,) to a for the cross-cultural study of landscapebecomes a part of wider theoretical
xistence ('us the way we might
be,). It is a concerns in anthropology and social theory more generally (cf. Dirks, Eley,
imelessness and fixit1r ir, ..rt"in idealized and Ortner (eds.) 199+).26
a paintedlandscaperepresentadon,
but which Although the framework proposed here has been generated through the
arily, if ever, in the humar, *orld
of social opening up and 'unpacking' of the landscapeconcept, there has also been a
¡uiresfurther comment and also raisesan issue refusal to specify a precise closure for the sets of related concepts that have
of,landscapeoutside anthropology. emergedas a result. Place and space,inside and outside, and image and rep-
:,tr.udy
ed torcefullv that landscapeimplies
the áenial resentation cannot be arranged further into a set of equivalences or exact
landscapeas an ideologilal .orr..pt
formallv homologuesof one another, with landscapeas their sum. This is becausethere
d by Cosgrove,is based o., ,.uátd;;i;;
is no 'absolute' landscape: the salience and relationship between place and
tatemphasizes "
its visual,painterly dimensions. space,inside and outside and image and representationare dependenton the
is a restrictive wav_ofseeing which
privileges cultural and historical context.
rile sustaininga radical splil U.r*..r,
insiders This last point returns us to an issue touched on at the beginning of the
renthosewho relate ,directly'
to the land and Introduction. There it was suggestedthat landscapeholds a similar status in
value (Cosgrove I9g4: 269 -70). anthropology to that of the body: although ubiquitous, it has remained largely
5::.1*,te
rustorlcalemergenceof the Western
notion of unproblematized (a situation, it is hoped, that has been partially remedied by
rg and relating to the land and
surroundings the presentation here). However, Gell reminds us in his essaythat, as with
lt alsogaveexpressionto notions
of irr.id. und landscape,there is no'absolute' body; the body is a locality, a form of ambience
; evident. But to suggest that
the landscape and a perceptual surround. Analogous to the body, then, the contextual and
;sis to confusewhat appearsto
be striven for transformative nature of landscape emerges in all the essays;it is, perhaps,
t: estates,and what, by contrast,
Tl -: exists as especially evident in Pinney's exploration of Indian oleographic represen-
(cf. Cosgrove1993: 250_-l).
tations. Here we find transposed on to a visual medium the tensions and
s describedin someof the essays
that follow) contradictions enactedon a daily basis in the industrialized setting of contem-
vomenendeavourto attain a timeless
perma_ porary India. At one moment there is an uneasyrelationship between notions of
ed in landscapepainting: the ,picturesque, 'modern' appearing in a
foregrounded 'tradition' and a background of the
iee,the stonemegalithsoutside thei, bound_ single representation. At another moment, a stable representation of tradition
Jlochreminds us, these Zafrmaniry
attempts seemsto predominate, or again, one of modernity. Finally, the tension between
uncaringpermanenceof the land
,.sult orrlr, tradition and the modern-foreground and background, place and space-
ent stonesthemselvesbecome
part of that appearsto be momentarily resolved in a representation that encapsulatesthe
L, in a different setting, outsiie
agencies political fiction of a unified nation. There is not one absolute landscapehere,
rseon native categories
and practice a fixity but a series of related, if contradictory, moments-perspectives-which co-
rn artefactual map as Layton
describes for here in what can be recognized as a singular form: landscape as a cultural
contrast, the Mongolian case process.
detailed by
ncy to deny laterality and movement
(her
Cscape mode that celáb.rr., *ou.ment
and Notes
re is a processin so far as men
and women This Introduction has benefited from the comments and helpful suggestionsof a
I what can only be a potentiality
and for the numberof peopleto whom I am most grateful.Allen Abramsonreadan early draft and
 ;tir!fI,i$,:
&-.tg*

24
Eric Hirsclt
his insightfur comments proved
ver-r,important in crarifying
issues' He also 'ery kindl-v severar key theoretic¿l betu'een the lTth and 1!
to .o**.rr;; much later draft. several of 'constitutional lawyer'; tJ
colleaguesin the Departmeni "gr..a my
Ju,r** ili;; irun"r university, gave me
advice and encouragemenr; their nature' and with their c
here I would ük; ;;;i;k
Ralph schroeder, and Adam Kupei,'A,Iark Nuttall, .This emphasis on the'la
charres S_tafford. I" ;;il;n,
Benthall' Gustaff Houtman' rhe commenrs of formed through the adve
*rrá ii* Ingold *" Jonathan
-or,
ments from severalcontributors
to ri;";"";;.
rvercomed, as were the com- a 'constitution' but a 'hi
the argument of the Introd;;; Ñt-" ooer Hirsch lisrened and read
as from the image associa
invaluable' I am particularly H-;;;l,f:nce and insights have
gr"r.frti?:lto my
:,r"0.. proved breeder'.
and thorough reading of ..,r.ial co-editor Michael o,Hanl,on
whose careful 8. Friedlander, one of Gor
¿rrrt, of ti,e r"ir"lr"i¡on has i;;;;bry
not only it. stl'le but the ir'prou.d landscape painting itself
as a whole. Many of the ideas
"'gt'*.n,
Introducdon were initiailv.*ir".Ji" contained in the ground' of what had prer
tation'' My appreciation go"t "."";;;;;;;;;;r, dtred ,Nature and Represen_ argued that this noticeab
o.rr a the studenr, *io*"rr.nded these
construcdve criticisms and lectures for their 'humanism'and the dwir
encouragement: Bryan crear,
in particurar, verJ¡ kindry Where in the medieval '
th..r.o,s
ffJll*Hti*' ffT1ilffi*1f.:*r".I.ii'"i',. i".i;i;r""i o,ro,m painters, background pa
emerged as a specific (lar
l' since completing this 9. Published posthumously
introducdon, the volume
edited.b-v*
Bender (1gg3) has ap-
evidence
th"tthe'i-. t'",i,,i..¿.;-. rb;l**ár."p. 10. The Arcadian landscape
6il:3Jü:Ulffit ,, ,n this cultural value (Bann
2. The .Imagine
entire sentencereads: I l. Alpers's argument about
yourself suddenl¡, set down
your gear' alone on a tropical surrounded bv all with material or socio-e
beach close ro ;;;rl;. village, while the launch or
dinghy which has bro_ughtyou
sails (what she calls a 'mapp
3. See the entry under ,Líná;;;";, "*"r.;;irür., ditioned by Dutch relatic
oxfor; nrgtiri"iirtionnry,, 2nd
4' seealsoAlpers1989; Barnes edn. viii. 62g_9. in England/Britain durir
(ü;:t
lgigzrn^rrerr97z;Buttimer
re80; ""apry.*
corg,ou"
tés4;co,s,;;;J;aniels (eds.) and whose discussion of Engli
if#?i;is.) le88;Gelrre85; (landed) authority and pr
5' For example' theFritish 12. The realist pictures prodr
'Thus cenotaph unveiled on Armistice
was created perhaps rfr. nir, Day, 1920 inwhitehall: can be compared with t
national h"lrJ; . . neither Lloyd George nor
Lutvens [the designsrJ Holland and Europe mor
.. the ,porr*"o,rs response of
the infinite meanings ár: "rr,i"ip"r.d the peopre to an image as taken from
t-ptinos . . . Thousands of the bereaved
altar,pro¡.",i"gii.i, g'ief reft wreaths at world as arrayed in spac
il[,$1*tift on;iit. within. . .,(Laqueur1994:
""i¿ (geography).
6' At this point it is perhaps 13. Alpers (1989: 133-8) has
appropriatero distinguishmy
Durkheimian distinction uetri,e.'r, own definitionfrom the be traced to the reapprop
,t. ,r.r.J *riJ'p.oar. Although
formulation is rinked to this ,r"Ji,i", the present geography, first formula
in its priviür;, of socio_cuñ;i
the focushereis lesson space relations, contrast (see n. 12) betwe
r rrfl."tio" árro"ii classifications 'geography' (the non-sub
Mauss 1963),or as a form of "r (Durkheim and
mutual classifi"rti;;.;ween rhe
(Lévi-strauss1966)'It also socialand physical 14. Although some,like Cass
diffbr: from thos.;il;;, which focuson spaceasa 'mythical' and'geometric
featureof bodily and domesti"r"i.tiorrr
rt", *"rt91^1,, analogousto the rvay (geo
a cultural text is shaped(Moore is dependent upon
1986;cf, "r. o.,r"*^ 1990).Rather, it sharesan
interestwith Parkin geometric space relies up
lilotie¡ i" rprge (through its relationship
place)asa backgrou.rdpot"nríriir¡ with foreground vation' (Noyes 1992: 29)
on.r, r-o.irro* rnd, noted,
other words' the.em.nlrlsitrt.t.lrípon q evenempty.In 15. As Buttimer (1971:28) h
processes of mutual impricationrather than
upon Durkheim's rigid dicho,o*f'b.r*..r,
7' Thus during the period when *"a.J p.oane space. Both Ratzel and Durk
Ciri.ri"n rt."rogy *"ll"o*on"rri
God wasperceivédasthe nrrrllror,rte point ofreference, the geographer, social ¡
and Narur" his minister and depury.
Then with their natural habit

Ut'¡t
Bt
C
b S
 Eric Hirsclt 25
Introd,uction
very important in clarifying
several key theoretical berweenthe 17th and lgth c., the dominant idiom of nature shifted to that of a
d to comment on a much later 'constitutional lawyer'; there was a preoccupation with the details of the 'laws of
draft. Several of my
Sciences,Brunel. University,
lu-r1 ;."; ;.";ü; nature' and with their classification, prediction, and discovery (Thomas 1984).
I would like to thank Adam Kup.i,'ñ,f".t 'law-like', constitutional quality of nature is further trans-
Nuttall, This emphasis on the
Stafford. In addition, rhe com-"rro
of Jonathan formed through the advent of the theory of evolution: natural forms not only have
Iim Ingold were most rvelcomed, 'history'. The idea of nature is thus gradually transformed
as were the com_ a 'constitution' but a
the volume.Nicola Abel Hirsct, 'constitutional lawyer' to that of a 'selective
tirt.n.¿ and read as from the image associated with a
and insights have proved
,r.?:1:h"* {:. o:r::nce
uI to my co-editor
breeder'.
N{ichael O'Hanlon whose Lareful 8 . Friedlander, one of Gombrich's teachers, had suggested that the emergence of
afts of the Introduction has imm""rur"üty 'fore-
improved landscapepainting itself could be seen in terms of the protrusion into the
nt as a whole. Many of the ideas 'background'
contained in the ground' of what had previously been in the of pictures. Friedlander
I in a courseof lectures dtled .Nature
and Represen_ argued that this noticeable shift was precipitated by the Renaissanceemphasis on
o the studentswho attended these 'humanism' and the dwindling of religious and mythological themes in paintings.
lectures for their
ragement:Bryan Cleal, in particular,
very kindly Where in the medieval workshop there was a division of labour between figure
draft of this rexr. For the errors
i., fáct or form painters, background painters, and still-life specialists, background painters now
)Iame. "itii
emerged as a specific (landscape)genre.
:tion, the volume edited_bi,. Bender
9 . Publishedposthumously in around 1498.
(1993) has ap_ 1 0 .The Arcadian landscapesof Poussin (1593-1665), for example, later exemplified
that the time has indeed .Lrr,.
fo, l*ár."pe as an this cultural value (Bann 1989: 100).
rgineyourself suddenly set down 1 1 .Alpers's argument about visual representation also points towards its relationship
surrounded bv all with material or socio-economic factors. She indicates how the mapping Practice
rcachcloseto a native village,
while ,h; ;;;;i;; (what she calls a 'mapping impulse') prevalent in the Dutch context was con-
sailsarvayout of sight.'
l: grfor¿ Englisltñicñonnry,,2nd ditioned by Dutch relationships with the land: conditions which were unlike those
edn. viii. 62g_9. in England,/Britain during the same period (this is brought out by Turner (1979)
dDuncan (eds.) 1992; Baíreil
197t2;Buttimer and whose discussionof English poetry of the time focuseson its concern with issuesof
984; Cosgroveand Daniels (eds.)
fdSS; Gell l9g5; (landed) authority and possession).
'View of Delft'
12. The realist pictures produced by Vermeer, forexample, such as the
,ph unveiled on Armistice Day,
l9Z0 inWhitehall: can be compared with the topographical prints which proliferated throughout
rst nationalholy site . . . neither
Lloyd George nor Holland and Europe more generally during the 17th c. Where Vermeer represents
:ipatedthe spontaneousresponse
of the people to an image as taken from a particular place (chorography), maps represent the
ess. . . Thousands of the bereaved
left wreaths at world as arrayed in space, providing a measure and relationship between places
reir grief onto the void within
. . .' @"q,reur 1994: (geography).
rpriateto distinguish my 13. Alpers (1989: 133-8) has argued that the centrality of this map-making impulse can
own definition from the be traced to the reappropriation during the Renaissanceof Ptolemy's conception of
sacredand profane. Althougt,
il:h. ti. presenr geography, first formulated during the 2nd c. AD. His conception involved the
uuon rn rts privileging of socio-cultural
reiations, contrasr (seen. 12) between'chorography' (the subject-centred senseof place) and
t reflection of social classificatio", 'geography' (the non-subiect-centred senseof a range of places).
lO.rrtfreim and
tual classificationbetween the
social and physical t4. Although some, like Cassirer, have suggested a radical separation betlveen so-called
:rs from those studies which 'mythical'and 'geometrical' space,'closer examination showfs] that mythical space
focus or-rp""" ., ,
lations that are ,worked^at',
to the rvay is dependent upon "geometric" strategies of reference and consistency, just as
e 1986; cf. Duncan 1990). "rr"logou,
Rathá, it sha.e, an geometric space relies upon "mythic" strategies of subiective position and obser-
space(through its relationship
wiit foreground vation' (Noyes 1992: 29).
y, often amorphous and, as
no¿d, .u.n tn 15. As Buttimer (1971:28) has noted:
upon processesof mutual implication "-pty.
rathir lhan
--
y berween sacred and profan"
rpr", Both Ratzel and Durkheim treated society from.an organismic viewpoint. For
ilian theology was a cornmon
point of reference, the geographer, social groups were like biological cells in symbiotic relationships
iolute and Narure his ministe,
i"¿ á"p"ry. Then with their natural habitat and expressed a natural impulse to expand territorially.

U r" rvgnst
¡ D A D Jnvenl nrqa
B I n U I O T E C AG E ¡ q E N E L
CnRReRR 7 No. 4l -oo
I Snn¡rRrE DE Bocora
---,:+ -.4-:
:_-_-:::;--'.--:
 26 Eric Hirsclt

For the sociologist,they were the product of collective

consciousnesscrystallised 22. This is what Shotter(19
in an institutional framework. Relations to environment
or natural habitat did from within a situation
not figure directly in Durkheim's anarytical framework.
locatedness-a sPeakin
Burke (1990: 109)has discussedhow the opposition
to Ratzel rvascarried on in the Berlin t969; Edie 1969
French traditi-onof geographyby Vidal Febvre. However, this continued 23. 'In Cartesian sPace,ob
"rálat..
to define itself differently from the Durkheimian relation to the Presenc
legacy:
The Durkheimian tradition encouraged generalization 273).
and comparison, while 24. Gell similarlY draws att
the Vidalian approach concentrated on *hrt *",
unique to a particular region. Language, an instancei
16. For a recent instance see e.g. the Guard.ian,,5
Sept. 1992. 25. Gow highlights a simil¡
17' Similar representationaltensions were also
becoming visible much closer to home Piro and the State'
(seeBarrell 1980).
26. One imPortant area of
18' For work on the picturesquein colonial India
seeTillotson 1990: l4l-51. and background Poten
l9' Gilpin, for example,questioned whether it
wasnecessaryto venture beyond Britain this is sPanned and co
in order to find picturesque beauty. He argued that been theorized from ol
the Énglish/Britisir wilderness
(e'g' Cumberland) offered such experiencesmuch account of Post-mode
closer to home. But there were
Iimits to the scenicgrandeur ofBriiain which invited 'sPan
the ,improver,. The notion of ping' and the
the improver emerged from the critique of Gilpin's (Jameson 1991:51-2,¿
work by payne Knight and
Price' These later theorists endeavouredto make historical vantage Poi
the picturesque more philosoph-
ically sophisticated (by allying it with the then currenr socialitY-see in Partic
theory of Associationism).
They were also engagedin a running debate with 1988:77+-88).
the landscapeimprover Repton.
As Michisaw (1992:84) observes:
The consciousproject of Gilpin's picturesque is the
re-enchantment, not the re-
design, of the domestic landscape.It is onl1,in the References
secondphase that this project
is itself domesticated, transforming a transformed
England (and by exrension,
Western Europe) into a norm. ALreRs,S. (1989)' The'
Harmondsworth:Peng
20' Anomission from this Introduction (as well
asessaysof this volume) is a considera- BINN, S. (1989).TheTra
processesand randscaperepreserrt"tionin china Cambridge:Cambridg
:lTlr*s:ape In the
Lhlnese context there is a vast literature on various schools "id¡"p"rr.
and traditions of B,tRNEs,T., andDtnceN,
landscape painting (cf. Bryson 1983: 87-92). This of t
literature has largely been the in the RePresentation
province of Sinologists. By contrast, geomancy,
or divination processesby means Benm,tL, J. Q972)' The
of lines, figures and points on the land, has r iárg"
anthropological literature (see APProach to thePoetry¿
Feuchtwang 1974).In theJapanesecontexr menrion
should be Áade of the impor- (1980). TheDar
tant text by Higuchi (1983) which documents
the existence of seven ,landscape- 1840.Cambridge:Cam
types' that dominate the visual and spatial
structure of Japanese city and Basso,K. (1988)."'SPe
countryside contexts.
Western APrche',Cuh
2l' This led in subsequentdecadesto a reaction
against such 'objectivist, conceptions BexoE,n,B' (1993).Land
and an emphasis on rhe 'insiders" viewpoin,
[corgrou e r9g4:33-g). The notion BnRcnn,1.0972)' Waitsa
of landscape was centrar to thil ,"-"orr".p,iárr, 'A
and became parr of a Benr.tN,I. (1969). No¡
phenomenologically inspired terminology used
to describe geographical experience GiombattistaVico: An
(e.9. Lowenthal 196l; Relph r976;TuaÁ
ry71
Here, the focus *r, on the study of UniversitYPress'
the everyday, immediate and original relationship"
p"rror6 have with their sur- Brocn, M., and Pannv,J
roundings' Drawing on the 20th-c. Continentrt
t of existenrial philosophy CambridgeUniversitY
(Heidegger, Merleau-ponty, sartre)-Rerph, "¿iiion
for."Áft", developed a geographical BouRorEu,P. (1977)'Out
terminology for the description of 'being-in-the-woilat
1Retprr lgg5isee weiner Press.
l99l for a similar trend in anthropology)-.
BtYsoN,N. (1983)'Pa¿

-4-¡-.1:>$.
 Eric Hirsclt
Introtluction 27
erethe product ofcotective
consciousnesscrystatised 22. This is what Shotter (1986:208) has referredto as'knou'ing-from'; that is, knowing
ork. Relations ro environmenr
habitat did from within a situation. Our use of evervday language implies a placednessand
<heim'sanalyticalframework. ". "lr"*f
locatedness-a speaking from 'organized settings' of the ongoing situation (cf.
t.9 h:y-r!. opposition to Berlin 1969; Edie 1969).
Ratzel rvascarried on in the
y by Vidal and larerFebvre. 23. 'In Cartesian space, objects hold positions which are defined absolutely, not in
H";.;;his continued
,m the Durkheimian
legacy: relation to the presence,in the same space,of the epistemic subject' (Gell 1985:
n encouraged generalization 773).
and comparison, while
:entratedon what was unique 24. Gell similarly draws attention to the pervasivenessof iconicity in American Sign
,o p"rri.ular region.
" Language, an instance in which sight is dominant.
the Guardian, S Sept. 1992.
25. Gow highlights a similar dilemma focused around a map/land claim between the
onswere also becomingvisible
much closer to home Piro and the State.
26. One important area of focus is the existential gap between foreground actuality
in colonialIndia seeTillotson
1990: 141_51. and background potentiality, place and spaceand so on, and the manner in which
d whetherit wasnecessary
to venture bevond Britain this is spanned and co-ordinated in specific contexts. The nature of this gap has
He arguedthat rhe Éngrish/Briri.r,
luty' wilderness been theorized from one cultural and historical vantage point by Jameson in his
h experiencesmuch closer
'Brirain ó h""*. g;r rhere were account of post-modernism-see in particular his discussion of 'cognitive map-
which invited the ,impror=r,.
ifr. notion of ping' and the 'spanning' and 'co-ordinating' capacities of power/ideology
of Girpin,s
y*r. ifr"yne'Knight and
l^.^::i:tnl.
teavouredto make
(Jameson1991:5l-2, 415-17). It has been theorized from a different cultural and
the picture.ir. áo.. philosoph_ historical vantage point by Strathern in her synthetic account of Melanesian
it with the then curren-t
theory of Associationism). sociality-see in particular her discussion of the 'anticipated outcome' (Strathern
debatewith the t"nar."p.
i_;;;"., Repton. 1 9 8 8 :2 7 4 - 8 8 ) .
:r:trr
tin's picturesqueis the re_enchantment,
not the re_
is.only in the second phase References
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