This book is not about the Andean landscape or Peruvian culture specifically: to gain proper knowledge of Peru, Lima, Huancavelica, and the Andes, one should rather turn to scholars who have dedicated themselves to studying these areas specifically. Indeed, anthropologists, geographers, archaeologists, linguists, and scholars from both Peru and abroad have thoroughly investigated every aspect of the Andean landscape, culture, and society. I will draw upon their work, particularly in the second and third chapters of this book. Rather, this is a philosophical essay on the concept of landscape and its evolution in modern and contemporary contexts. It is an inquiry into the ambiguities of landscape, as part of a broader conceptual constellation composed of notions like space, place, environment, nature, and territory—fundamental concepts I will refer to throughout as the geographical constellation.4 These are everyday terms, as one can see: their overlapping, variable, yet still intuitive meanings, along with their possible interconnections in common discourse, reflect their origin in the precategorial lifeworld. The geographical conceptual constellation is so ingrained in the lifeworld that lifeworld itself must be thought of as inherently spatial.5 This approach raises the question of the legitimacy of a purely conceptual inquiry into concepts so deeply tied to experience. Our personal and socio-cultural experiences of landscape, territory, environment, space, and place shape our understanding of these concepts both scientifically and philosophically. Such conceptualisations rarely escape the web of pre-understandings that accompany and structure our everyday lives.
Beyond the Postcolonial Gaze. Recognising Pachamama
Paolo furia
2026-01-01
Abstract
This book is not about the Andean landscape or Peruvian culture specifically: to gain proper knowledge of Peru, Lima, Huancavelica, and the Andes, one should rather turn to scholars who have dedicated themselves to studying these areas specifically. Indeed, anthropologists, geographers, archaeologists, linguists, and scholars from both Peru and abroad have thoroughly investigated every aspect of the Andean landscape, culture, and society. I will draw upon their work, particularly in the second and third chapters of this book. Rather, this is a philosophical essay on the concept of landscape and its evolution in modern and contemporary contexts. It is an inquiry into the ambiguities of landscape, as part of a broader conceptual constellation composed of notions like space, place, environment, nature, and territory—fundamental concepts I will refer to throughout as the geographical constellation.4 These are everyday terms, as one can see: their overlapping, variable, yet still intuitive meanings, along with their possible interconnections in common discourse, reflect their origin in the precategorial lifeworld. The geographical conceptual constellation is so ingrained in the lifeworld that lifeworld itself must be thought of as inherently spatial.5 This approach raises the question of the legitimacy of a purely conceptual inquiry into concepts so deeply tied to experience. Our personal and socio-cultural experiences of landscape, territory, environment, space, and place shape our understanding of these concepts both scientifically and philosophically. Such conceptualisations rarely escape the web of pre-understandings that accompany and structure our everyday lives.
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