Geese, Elves, and the Duplicitous, "Diabolical" Landscaped Space of Reactionary Modernism: The Case of Holgersson, Hägerstrand, and Lorenz

Reactionary modernism is identified with Nazism, but modernism itself often has a reactionary dimension, which arguably can be traced partially back to the Renaissance construction of the modern map and, from it, perspectival, scenic landscape. The perspectival space of scenic landscape characterist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:GeoHumanities 2017-01, Vol.3 (1), p.41-64
Main Author: Olwig, Kenneth R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ciencia espacial
devolución de lo silvestre
escenario del paisaje
landscape scenery
Nazism
nazismo
pedagogy
pedagogía
rewilding
spatial science
再荒野化
地景风光
教育学
空间科学
纳粹主义
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Summary:Reactionary modernism is identified with Nazism, but modernism itself often has a reactionary dimension, which arguably can be traced partially back to the Renaissance construction of the modern map and, from it, perspectival, scenic landscape. The perspectival space of scenic landscape characteristically creates a dialectical hybrid consisting of, on the one hand, an invisible, lawful, geometric spatial framework expressing a modern scientific rationality, and on the other hand, a visible and holistic, but illusory visual scene of organic nature, place, and community appealing to reactionary affect, nostalgia, and emotion. This "duplicitous" dialectic can be termed "diabolic" as opposed to "symbolic." The construction and consequences of this hybrid are illustrated by how Selma Lagerlöf's Swedish geography reader cum children's story, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson, affected the modernism of Torsten Hägerstrand's time-geographical spatial science and the reactionary modernism of Konrad Lorenz's Nazi biology, and by extension contemporary rewilding.
ISSN:2373-566X
2373-5678
DOI:10.1080/2373566X.2016.1245108