Pensar a Paisagem para Além dos Hemisférios

According to a general notion, the concept of landscape was consolidated in Europe at the beginning of the sixteenth century, exemplified by Dutch landscape painting, while in Asia the term landscape has been present in Chinese poetry and painting since the fourth century. It is thus assumed that bo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of Culture
Main Author: Dirk Michael Hennrich
Format: Articles
Published: Instituto Cultural de Macau 2020
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Online Access:https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40064/4021
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Summary:According to a general notion, the concept of landscape was consolidated in Europe at the beginning of the sixteenth century, exemplified by Dutch landscape painting, while in Asia the term landscape has been present in Chinese poetry and painting since the fourth century. It is thus assumed that both notions of landscape are comparable and that the later European term for landscape must be revised in light of the earlier Chinese concept of landscape. The present essay provides a critical overview of the positions of François Jullien, “Living off Landscape or the Unthought-of in Reason,” and of Augustin Berque’s thought on ‘mediance,’ which is inspired by classical Chinese and Japanese notions of landscape. In the current context of global ecological degradation and in the face of the total manipulation of natural landscapes by humans, landscape must be rethought, taking into account that the European concept of landscape, as explained by the aforementioned authors, has not been properly considered. In particular, its dual origin, in politics and aesthetics, its connection with the technical and scientific spirit of modern times, the specific problem of subjectivity in modernity, and the possibility of the loss of subjectivity, as recognized, for example, in Foucault’s work over half a century ago. Especially the work of François Jullien seems to reiterate a sum of post-structuralist and/or postmodern assumptions, founded on his peculiar reading of classical Chinese thought, which have serious consequences for his interpretation of the concept of landscape.
ISSN:1682-1106