Representing the Environment

Description

The development of the environmental movement has relied heavily upon written and visual imagery. Representing the Environment offers an introductory guide to representations of the environment found in the media, literature, art and everyday life encounters. The book comprises of three parts. The first outlines the methods and techniques necessary to study environmental representations, using examples ranging from road protests and tourist literature to the debate over genetically modified foods. The second part examines chronologically the development of Western attitudes towards the environment through their representations in painting, poetry and literature. The final section examines representations of urban environments, past and present, emphasizing the duality found in representations of the city in Western society. Featuring case studies from Europe, the Americas and Australia, Representing the Environment provides practical guidance on how to study environmental representations from a cultural and historic perspective, and places the reader in the role of active interpreter. The book argues that studying representations provides an important lens on the development of environmental attitudes, values and decision-making.

John R. Gold is Professor of Urban Geography and George Revill is Senior Lecturer in Geography at Oxford Brookes University.

'An accessible, well-balanced and historically informed look at how societies portray and understand the natural environment.' - Richard Ek, Lund University, Sweden 'The strength of this text is the approachable way in which it has been written and the book provides a superb introduction for anyone wanting to better understand how the environment is being represented, by whom and for what purpose.' - Mags Adams, University of Salford, UK