| In this dissertation I develop a concept that I call a "sensuous sense of place," through an in-depth analysis of books by 10 prominent American nature writers. My approach is informed primarily by humanistic geography, in dialogue with contemporary theoretical developments in sensuous geography and the geography of literature. Adopting an interpretive method of qualitative content analysis, I identify several key themes in nature writing that contribute to my definition of a sensuous sense of place. Existing definitions of sense of place emphasize cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of sense of place. A sensuous sense of place complements existing definitions by identifying how these cognitive and emotional aspects are grounded in sensuous experience, and suggesting how sense of place can be actively cultivated through an experiential attunement to natural places. This project has implications for further theoretical and empirical work on sense of place, the geography of literature, and the geography of the senses, as well as environmental ethics and education. |
