The New Definition of Landscape?

  Rylee Johnson 

1/19/21

Response Paper 1

The New Definition of Landscape 

“The Word Itself” by J.B Jackson offers us a new look and meaning into the word landscape. It helps us see that the word landscape can be defined in many different ways and can differ from person to person through time. Jackson shows us through his knowledge, keywords, and examples how through time the word landscape has changed. 

Jackson shows us how the word landscape has changed through his knowledge of the subject. The most specific claim that Jackson argued was that we should start thinking of landscape as a new definition. “ A composition of man-made or man-modified spaces to serve as infrastructure or background for our collective existence” (Jackson, page 8). This claim is really powerful and if you think about it, it makes sense. The claim that these buildings or this landscape are just a mear background for our existence makes sense. In some situations, this doesn't make sense though. For most places that have had generations and generations of indigenous people, there are places and buildings of some sort that have significance to the land. They are a flaw in Jackson’s theory that this landscape is just a background in our existence. Some huts and buildings have significance to connect the people to the land and offer thanks for the beautiful land that they have. 

The second way that Jackson shows us how the word landscape has changed is through keywords. Some keywords that Jackson uses in his article are landscape, picture, environment, space, lands, shape, and spatial models. These keywords connect us to the argument of the article because they all help prove his theory. They all have something to do with landscape and the changing meaning of this word.  They directly connect us to the text we are learning in class. They also share some keywords with Chapter 1 of “Contemporary Human Geography, Culture, Globalization, Landscape by Roderick P. Neumann, Patricia L. Price”. The article as well as the book mentions the keyword, spatial models, its purpose is to help us understand human geographic patterns with math. 

The final way that Jackson helps us understand his argument is through examples through history. The basic meaning of landscape in the dictionary is over 300 years old and reads “a portion of land which the eye can comprehend at a glance” (Jackson, page 3). This definition continued to be used throughout the 19th century.  Throughout time Jackson tells us this definition has some changes and develops into something else. Where he places his own definition of the word  “A composition of man-made or man-modified spaces to serve as infrastructure or background for our collective existence” (Jackson, page 8).

In conclusion, Jackson shows us his definition of the word landscape and it offers good inside but his theory has some flaws. It also shows us through keywords like spatial models and offers us a deeper understanding of the text of our book. Lastly, he shows us through experience through time how this word has changed. Jackson shows us how the definition of the word landscape changes throughout time through knowledge, keywords, and experience. 

Citations 

Neumann, R. P., & Price, P. L. (2019). Contemporary human geography: Culture, globalization, landscape. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company.

Jackson, J. B. (2009). "The Word Itself". In Discovering the vernacular landscape. New Haven: Yale University Press.