Placescape

 Kiley Miller

January 18, 2021

Reading Response 1-20

Placescape

Place and landscape are simple, common words used everyday. Since they are so prevalent, it is easy to assume that they would be easy to define. However, these words have changed so drastically over time that it is quite difficult to land on a definite definition. Because of this, scholars have now found themselves fighting over what place and landscape should mean to us today. Though many hotly debate on one meaning over others, it should be important to remember how individuals relate to words differently. Moreover, place and landscape can have many different meanings, and that is what makes them so special.

Place is a word that resides deep in the heart of the English language. It is one of the first words children learn to read and write. As place can be a noun or verb, it is one of the most versatile words to roll off the English tongue. If only the noun definitions are focused on, the word becomes so visually rooted that each individual has a unique image come to mind. For some, place appears as somewhere distant and exotic. For others, it appears as where they grew up. Thus, the only definition of place that holds all the vast images together is that a place is a location that people believe to be special. Whether it is a small shop or a vast forest, a place is special, whatever that may mean to anyone.

Now, landscape has gone through many transitions through the centuries. From starting as a word used almost exclusively by painters, it has almost lost all touch with reality. Yes, a landscape is easy to envision, but it is impossible to measure. In the dictionary, landscape means “portion of land which the eye can comprehend at a glance”. There are no formal measurements or requirements. In fact, even the Americans and the English have different views on what is and what is not considered a landscape. Americans prefer a natural landscape, one untouched or only slightly touched by man. Whereas the English interpret it as mostly being affected by humans. But this is not the only word to be used differently by these two different cultures. For example: elevator and lift, shower and water closet, and fries and chips. All these words mean the same thing, however, each region uses different names. Therefore, landscape could be counted the same. The English language is so diversely rooted in Greek, Latin, German, and in other languages that it twists around inside itself, creating words with double meanings. If other words can sit by with three to four definitions, then landscape should be left alone as the more abstract word it is.

Since place and landscape share a uniqueness with the individual describing them, there is no need to fight over a concrete definition. Place and landscape are the words that people make them.