Gardens are us, We are Nature

Transcending Antiquity and Modernity

Bibliographic Data

ID4486802
AuthorsW E Doolittle (0000-0002-7927-6792, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume94
Issue3
Pages391-404
Publication date2004-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7428 • E-ISSN: 1931-0846
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1931-0846.2004.tb00179.x
OpenAlexW2117608289
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited33

The history of gardens and the history of humans are linked inextricably, especially in the context of environment. As people and their institutions have changed, so too have gardens. This brief essay illustrates some important aspects in the evolution of gardens, exploring three seemingly discrete, but actually interconnected, notions: the antiquity of gardens, combining archaeological data with ethnographic parallels; the role of gardens in the changing spatial manifestations of agriculture, from dump heaps to amber waves of grain; and the transformation of domestic space, the literal and figurative reconstruction of garden fences into house walls. Changes are discussed as inadvertent products, rather than as consequences of deliberate actions. Modern ideas about categorizing landscapes are challenged further. The nature/culture dualism is a myth even at the household scale, as is our traditional way of looking at the world

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Epistemology · Modernity · Historical and Architectural Studies · History · Philosophy · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics · Religious Tourism and Spaces

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