El paisaje como proceso de vida: experiencias de domesticación del bosque en el sur de Chile

Abstract

Social sciences have approached the social construction of landscape through a focus on tangible and intangible variables, primarily conceptualized as a cultural representation or a reflection of ideology. New analytical developments have highlighted the procedural character of the landscape, emphasizing the importance of experience on social interaction between human and non-human components. In order to show the theoretical implications of the definition of the landscape as a life process, we present here a case study on the colonial landscape of southern Chile. In particular, we will focus on the value of domestication, characterizing the agential relation between forests and their inhabitants. Our analysis shows that, in the historical context of colonization, the sense of place and geographical belonging are not manifested through traditional identity claims associated with an assumed farming culture. Rather, they materialize as a result of human engagement with forests, aimed at the transformation of wild forest areas into domesticated woods.