Landscape, embodiment and visual impairment: an exploration of the limits of landscape knowledge

The concept of Landscape has been identified as having an ocular-centric heritage. However, recent attempts have been made to align the meaning of landscapes with the concept of ‘doing’, ‘embodied practice’ or ‘enactment’ and these re-conceptualizations form part of a reaction to landscape’s perceived ocular-centrism. In this paper the connections of landscape with sight are traced through the processes of modernity, to recent appropriations of the landscape concept in academic/policy arenas. Then with reference to ongoing research with visually impaired rambling groups, the following questions are raised: to what extent does the visual legacy of the landscape concept still have significant effects today? Does this legacy result in the exclusion of other forms of knowledge and identity? How far can landscape concepts be re-aligned? We will argue that despite recent re-theorizations of landscape, the concept still operates as a powerful ‘structure of knowledge’ foregrounding particular ‘ways of seeing’ to the exclusion of other forms of ‘embodied knowledge’.