Performing a New England landscape: Viewing, engaging, and belonging

This research considered how rural landscapes and place identity are produced through private landowners' work. The notion of performance is explored from two perspectives: as a research method and as a powerful conceptual tool that affords a multi-scalar tracing of the connections between belo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of rural studies 2014-10, Vol.36, p.226-236
Main Authors: Morse, Cheryl E., Strong, Allan M., Mendez, V. Ernesto, Lovell, Sarah T., Troy, Austin R., Morris, William B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
19th century
Aesthetics
Agriculture
Attachment
Consumption
England
Identity
Land Use
Landowners
Landscape
Nineteenth Century
Place
Rural
Rural Areas
Tourism
U.S.A
United Kingdom
Vermont
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Summary:This research considered how rural landscapes and place identity are produced through private landowners' work. The notion of performance is explored from two perspectives: as a research method and as a powerful conceptual tool that affords a multi-scalar tracing of the connections between belonging, aesthetics, and the legacy of tourism narratives in a contemporary rural place. Interviews with rural Vermont landowners reveal that they conduct a diverse array of activities on their properties, but hold remarkably similar perceptions of the key elements in an ideal Vermont landscape. This vision closely matches the pastoral ideal that was manufactured for tourist consumption beginning in the late 19th century. Landowners engage in land-shaping activities that reproduce an ideal, agrarian view, but not necessarily agricultural livelihoods. Researcher engagement in a land-shaping activity afforded insight into the community and public elements of private landowners' land use practices. This mixed-methods approach revealed how landowners' sense of attachment to place and the doing of land-shaping activities contribute to the performance of a regional New England landscape. •Vermont landowners collectively perform a regional New England landscape.•Performance is a powerful method when used in a mixed method research scheme.•Landowners report stronger attachment to the state's landscape than their own land.•Appreciation for visual aesthetics motivates land-shaping activities.•A historic pastoral view is highly valued in Vermont's post-productivist landscape.
ISSN:0743-0167
1873-1392
DOI:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.09.002