Landscapes of the New Ecological West: Writing and Seeing Beyond the Wilderness Plot

Abstract

The discursive and aesthetic yoking together of two imperial ideals, “the West” and “the Wilderness,” has framed, plotted and empowered a landscape of expansion and development over the course of North American history–until recently with the advent of the new ecological west. This presentation introduces readers to contemporary landscape writers, historians and photographers who are de-framing and re-visioning the dominant view of the West through ecological art and critique.