In Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature, William Cronon claims that wilderness is a cultural creation which separates humans from nonhuman natural aspects of the world. He proves this by demonstrating the fluidity of the concept ‘wilderness,’ whose meaning has continuously changed throughout time to connote different experiences. Cronon divides wilderness into two main categories: the frontier shaped in the image of Americans and Europeans as a space for men to prove themselves (Cronon, 72), and the sublime as a space of strong spiritual connection, with its blurry borders between the natural and supernatural (73). Whether wilderness refers to a barren desert or a waterfall, in each representation wilderness is characterized by human
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For example, the myth of a disappearing frontier caused an “elite class of men… [to want] to preserve some remnants of the wild” (78), sculpting wilderness into a place of recreation for tourists. A strong sense of spiritual connection also came to characterize the wilderness, because as Cronon points out, in order “to gain such a remarkable influence, the concept of wilderness had to become loaded with some of the deepest core values of the culture that created and idealized it” (73).
Cronon’s critique not only addresses the cultural creation of wilderness, but also questions cultural values. He argues that by creating the spectacle of wilderness, humans have come to idealize surreal landscapes and subsequently devalue their homes (85). Cronon raises this critique with the purpose of changing the way people think about nature and wilderness to encourage them to appreciate and value nature closer to home.
Canadian …show more content…
In Ideas of North, Grace cites Vilhjalmur Stefansson saying, “It is chiefly our unwillingness to change our minds which prevents the North from changing into a country to be used and lived in just like the rest of the world,” (7). This quote proves that even mythmakers understand that the divisions between human and nonhuman, and natural and artificial are only a mentality. Ideologies may be difficult to change, but it is important to recognize the possibility that changing the mentality around wilderness could improve these
For example, the myth of a disappearing frontier caused an “elite class of men… [to want] to preserve some remnants of the wild” (78), sculpting wilderness into a place of recreation for tourists. A strong sense of spiritual connection also came to characterize the wilderness, because as Cronon points out, in order “to gain such a remarkable influence, the concept of wilderness had to become loaded with some of the deepest core values of the culture that created and idealized it” (73).
Cronon’s critique not only addresses the cultural creation of wilderness, but also questions cultural values. He argues that by creating the spectacle of wilderness, humans have come to idealize surreal landscapes and subsequently devalue their homes (85). Cronon raises this critique with the purpose of changing the way people think about nature and wilderness to encourage them to appreciate and value nature closer to home.
Canadian …show more content…
In Ideas of North, Grace cites Vilhjalmur Stefansson saying, “It is chiefly our unwillingness to change our minds which prevents the North from changing into a country to be used and lived in just like the rest of the world,” (7). This quote proves that even mythmakers understand that the divisions between human and nonhuman, and natural and artificial are only a mentality. Ideologies may be difficult to change, but it is important to recognize the possibility that changing the mentality around wilderness could improve these