African Landscapes: Interdisciplinary Approaches

Description

Landscape studies provide a crucial perspective into the interaction between humans and their environment, shedding insight on social, cultural, and economic topics. The research explores both the way that natural processes have affected the development of culture and society, as well as the ways that natural landscapes themselves are the product of historical and cultural processes. Most previous studies of the landscape selectively focused on either the natural sciences or the social sciences, but the research presented in African Landscapes bridges that gap. This work is unique in its interdisciplinary scope. Over the past twelve years, the contributors to this volume have participated in the collaborative research center ACACIA (Arid Climate Adaptation and Cultural Innovation in Africa), which deals with the relationship between cultural processes and ecological dynamics in Africa’s arid areas. The case studies presented here come from mainly Sahara/Sahel and southwestern Africa, and are all linked to broader discussions on the concept of landscape, and themes of cultural, anthropological, geographical, botanical, sociological, and archaeological interest. The contributions in this work are enhanced by full color photographs that put the discussion in context visually. Front Matter....Pages i-xxiii Front Matter....Pages 40-40 Landscape in Geography and Landscape Ecology, Landscape Specification and Classification in Geomorphology....Pages 41-55 Towards a Reconstruction of Land Use Potential....Pages 57-77 Landscape Ecology of Savannas....Pages 79-103 Quantitative Classification of Landscapes in Northern Namibia Using an ASTER Digital Elevation Model....Pages 105-117 Risks and Resources in an Arid Landscape....Pages 119-157 Resources, Use Potential and Basic Needs....Pages 159-197 Front Matter....Pages 200-200 The ‘Landscapes’ of Ancient Egypt....Pages 201-224 A Land of Goshen....Pages 225-254 From the Old Location to Bishops Hill The Politics of Urban Planning and Landscape History in Windhoek, Namibia....Pages 255-274 Landscape and Nostalgia....Pages 275-294 Front Matter....Pages 296-296 The Anthropological Study of Landscape....Pages 296-324 Kinship, Ritual and Landscape among the Himba of Northwest Namibia....Pages 327-351 The Spectator’s and the Dweller’s Perspectives....Pages 353-381 Is this a Drought or is this a Drought and what is really Beautiful? Different Conceptualizations of the !Khuiseb Catchment (Central Namibia) and their Consequences....Pages 383-405 Where Settlements and the Landscape Merge....Pages 407-427 Front Matter....Pages 429-429 Two Ways of Conceptualizing Natural Landscapes....Pages 430-453 Landscape Conceptualisation in Mbukushu....Pages 455-471 Otjiherero Praises of Places....Pages 473-500 Back Matter....Pages 501-513