Romanticism and Landscape: An Eco-Critical Approach to the Natural Image

The article traces the genealogy of the concept of Nature and landscape from the romanticism to the second industrial revolution. This archeology of ideas aims to dissect Nature as a subject of discourse in order to propose it as an “empty container” filled with fantasy and which has been instrumentalized by (sometimes) conservative power axes. The ongoing ecological crisis demands a set of new theoretical approaches towards what is that thing “out there” that we call Nature since the romantic paradigm only gives away a passive and contemplative image that serves to economic exploitation and aesthetical consumerism. Through the lens of eco-criticism, the aim is to dismantle and deconstruct the fantasy of Nature by proposing different entry points from interdisciplinarity and critical studies.