Nature, environment, wilderness: Tropes used in managing nature preserves

Date

2018-08

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Abstract

This dissertation explores attitudes toward nature and the idea of wilderness in German culture and history through a study of two 20th and 21st century projects: the development of the Black Forest national park in Southwestern Germany, and efforts along the Rhine River basin in Germany and the Netherlands to mitigate flooding by allowing for natural river flow. These projects were born out of new attitudes to restore nature and wilderness to otherwise highly settled areas; language used to describe these attitudes—“Let Nature be Nature” (Natur Natur sein lassen; management strategy for Bavarian Forest National Park) and “Room for the River” (Ruimte voor de Rivier; management strategy for the Rhine delta in the Netherlands)—suggests that among environmental policy makers, nature is seen not only as an economic resource, but also as a living force that has intrinsic value. Through examination of policy documents, newspaper articles, academic texts, photographs, and similar textual sources, along with my personal involvement in a Black Forest hiking association, I tease out the rhetorical moves and commonplace arguments derived from classical rhetoric that accompanied these new approaches to nature. Additionally, I look closely at the term “wilderness” and its various related terms in German to discern a paradox that has always accompanied the German—and Western world’s—understanding of nature and wilderness. This paradox is something I revisit throughout the dissertation, a paradox of almost opposite rhetorical commonplace arguments—nature as invigorating, but also requiring prudent rather than reckless engagement. Such paradoxes find their way into current environmental policy, where the goal of letting nature be nature, or providing room for the river involves many organizations, governments, a slew of acronyms, all of which regulate just how wild we allow nature to be.


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Keywords

Benign neglect, Commonplace arguments, Nature conservation, Outdoor sports, Rewilding, Rhetorical moves

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