THEORY AND PRACTICE OF AMERICAN VERNACULAR LANDSCAPE:AN INTRODUCTION TO DISCOVERING THE VERNACULAR LANDSCAPE

Discovering the Vernacular Landscape is a collection of essays on cultural landscape,by J.B.Jackson(1901-1996),Father of the Vernacular Landscape.The particular contributions of this book come in the theoretical chapters Jackson established for landscape studies: a pair of ideal landscapes——the Political Landscape and the Inhabited Landscape,and three prototypal landscapes——Landscape One,Landscape Two,Landscape Three.Based on this theoretical framework,Jackson carried out cases studies in the essays that deal with specific landscape elements in the American context.Begun with a retrospect on the word landscape,Jackson argued that the origin meaning of landscape has nothing to do with picturesque scenery,but a portion of land at glance.Then Jackson defined two distinctive landscapes i.e.the political landscape——the regular,planned,large-scale,enduring features and what the vernacular landscape——the small-scale,informal,destined to continuous change,but results of everyday life and work.Within this framework,he launched detailed discusses on certain elements of contemporary American landscapes,with a conclusion of three landscapes: Landscape One is that of early medieval Europe,a landscape without visible signs of political history;Landscape Two is that of the Renaissance,whose spaces are clearly and permanently defined and made visible;Landscape Three is emerging in contemporary America,which in many ways a reversion to Landscape One,and clearly one that Jackson favors.This book is one of Jackson's major scholarly contributions to the studies of cultural landscape and vernacular landscape,and the studies of man-land relationship.