Cultural Representation of the Landscape/Territory

Cultural representations of the landscape or territory are the result of a human construct in a specific time and with a degree and type of interaction with its environment or surroundings. According to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), 'representation', in its second meaning, is understood as the image or idea that replaces reality (Reyes, 2018). The word 'image' is also a term to consider because, in its first meaning, it is understood as the figure, representation, likeness and appearance of something. If we analyse carefully the meanings chosen for both terms, we can conclude that representations aim to show a landscape in the most real or accurate way possible. On the other hand, 'culture', according to the third meaning of the RAE Dictionary, is considered to be the set of ways of life and customs, knowledge and degree of artistic, scientific, industrial development in an era, and its social groups i.e., all those elements that make up this definition can be perceived as factors that have influenced the evolution and historical construction of the landscape and its perception (Reyes, 2018). Furthermore, the RAE Dictionary defines 'landscape' as a part of a territory that can be observed from a specific place, in its first meaning. However, in its fourth meaning, it defines it as the set of characteristics of a given area. The European Landscape Convention further defines landscape as 'any part of the territory, as perceived by the populations, the character of which results from the action of natural and human factors and their interrelationships'. Consequently, 'territory' is considered any portion of space occupied by a person, society or state in a sovereign manner with defined boundaries in geographical space (Ericksen, 1980; Wikse, 1977). These concepts can be linked to the work of Hernández Guerrero (2002) and literary landscapes. This author describes these, in epic, as the place or setting in which the characters are placed and in which the actions of the narrative take place. Thus, the landscape would be the described image of the contemplated, while the territory would be the relationship with the administrative and legal units of geographical space.

Based on the above, cultural representations of landscape or territory constitute the object of study, in the form of an image, in which the landscape or territory existing at a particular historical moment is shown or described and which is endowed with certain artistic connotations (Reyes, 2018; Reyes, 2022). In the case of literary landscapes or territories, these connotations will be expressed in the interaction of the characters with the territory and the authors' descriptions of the narrative, and physical space contemplating their literary licenses (Alvarado-Sizzo, 2021). Furthermore, these literary territories can be analysed in terms of their geographical components, being able to describe the characteristics related to their temporality, their geographical location (e.g., municipalities, localities, regions) and their cartographic representation using geographic information technologies. This type of application opens up the possibility of estimating the distances between scenes, identifying the types of landscapes described or locating the landmarks on which the narrator's or the characters' gaze is focused. It is also possible to collect information and incorporate it into spatial databases that consider aspects such as the influence of meteorological or climatic elements influenced by factors such as orientation, luminosity, winds and other characteristics experienced by the characters in the work, identify the functional components of the territory such as facilities or infrastructures through which the scenes pass, and the types of intra-urban spaces through which they walk or which they contemplate. As an example, we could evaluate the effects of the passage of time on elements such as local architecture (Reyes, 2022) or identify the places that inspired the authors to create fictional imaginaries (Alvarado-Sizzo, 2018), which may produce tourist landscapes as in the case of Etretat in France and the literary work of Maurice Leblanc, the saga of Arsène Lupin. These types of new tourist landscapes are the result of a new literary heritage that will have to be measured in terms of its authenticity (Bargenda, 2024) and fidelity to its work for it to be successful and lasting in the future as a destination without creating imaginary misconceptions about the author's intention and what is described in the work.

Another case of literary tourism is linked to great travellers. A clear example could be the precursor of contemporary geography, Alexander von Humboldt. In his travels, he developed stories about his interests in the physical environment and the social context of the time in Latin American countries such as Mexico (Echenberg, 2017). These stories constitute another variety of literary tourism linked to the new knowledge of the territory in an intellectual context that differs from the fiction discussed above.

How to cite this entry: Reyes Corredera, S. (2025). Cultural representation of the landscape/territory. In R. Baleiro, G. Capecchi & J. Arcos-Pumarola (Eds.), E-Dictionary of Literary Tourism. University for Foreigners of Perugia. https://doi.org/10.34623/zdg2-hn59