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From lived experience to political representation: Rhetoric and landscape in the North York Moors

Emery, S.; Carrithers, M.

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Authors

S. Emery

M. Carrithers



Abstract

Approaches to landscape are characterized by an unresolved distinction between political representation on the one hand and phenomenology on the other. In this paper we address this distinction by demonstrating how those living in close quarters with landscape (farmers) translate their lived experience into political representation. Through the use of rhetoric culture theory we show how farmers use narrative and symbolism to stake their political claims. Moreover, we argue that a focus on lived experience should not deprive our ethnographic encounters of political significance. On the contrary, we demonstrate how by focusing on the lived experience of farmers we can better appreciate how they are motivated to act politically, have the skills to act politically, and gain political legitimacy in the eyes of others. We argue that whilst phenomenological approaches provide fertile grounds for political analysis, the majority of such research remains politically empty. We demonstrate how, contrary to much of the literature, farmers can and do aesthetically fix the landscape for rhetorical effect, and how narrative as rhetorical representation always already serves to politicize time. We suggest rhetoric, therefore, as an appropriate conceptual tool for mediating and advancing our understanding of the relationship between landscape experience and landscape politics.

Citation

Emery, S., & Carrithers, M. (2016). From lived experience to political representation: Rhetoric and landscape in the North York Moors. Ethnography, 17(3), 388-410. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138115609380

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 31, 2015
Online Publication Date Oct 13, 2015
Publication Date Sep 1, 2016
Deposit Date Mar 9, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Ethnography
Print ISSN 1466-1381
Electronic ISSN 1741-2714
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 17
Issue 3
Pages 388-410
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138115609380

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Copyright Statement
Emery, S. and Carrithers, M. (2016) 'From lived experience to political representation : rhetoric and landscape in the North York Moors.', Ethnography., 17 (3). pp. 388-410. Copyright © 2015 The Author(s). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.





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