Abstract
Cultural geography has arguably been ‘getting wetter’,1,2 but not all waters have received equal attention. This volume brings inland waterways, particularly canals, out of the shadows, celebrating their significance to cultural heritage and tourism. The editors suggest these waterscapes deserve such attention as they uniquely link the cultural and the natural, and were so significant in cultural, political and social history. Their interpretation could be disputed given that other landscapes might similarly be claimed to span nature-culture, but waterways’ significance to industrial heritage and landscapes is clear. The volume suggests a wealth of hidden histories yet to be uncovered through examining waterways. Particularly fascinating was the revelation of women’s role in engineering France’s majestic Canal du Midi. Chandra Mukerji details how peasant women brought labour and vernacular expertise in channelling water to the canal’s construction, offering skills usually masked by celebration of elite masculine expertise. Such stories highlight the potential of using waterways as a lens to study social relations and human–environment interactions. As Visentin proposes in his conclusion, rivers and canals can be interpreted as synecdoches of whole environments or historic eras. This is particularly apparent in Kochetkova’s chapter following control of the Saimaa Canal passing between Finland and the USSR governments, with the waterway acting as a symbol of evolving Cold War politics and fuel for Communist propaganda.
As one contributor notes, while waterways have shared elements, each is a unique landscape (Prideaux, p.151). It is therefore tricky for a collection like this to coalesce around commonalities. This complexity is increased by examples ranging across East and West Europe, North America and across history with some considered through artistic representations. Several chapters offer readings in the tradition of landscape studies, peeling back the layers of a palimpsest. Others take more experimental approaches inspired by geography’s more-than-representational twists. For example, Coates brings forth a more-than-human perspective through his discussion of salmonscapes, while Peterle and Visentin share explorations inspired by literary waterscapes.
Several contributors take a lifecycle perspective, tracking waterways through phases of development, decline and regeneration. Visentin suggests such an epochal shift from industrial transport to leisure resource is matched by a change in human relationships with water, from attempts to control or dominate, towards recognition of the need for ecological renewal. This optimistic assessment of the current state of human–water relations aligns with the editors’ aspirations for the revival of a more fluvial sense of place centred on hydrophilia. But it is perhaps not inevitable that everyone has affinity with waterscapes or appreciates waterways, particularly given their neglected state in many urban areas. The book’s focus on cultural heritage and tourism may favour positive portrayals of waterways and their potential. Alternative perspectives might draw out negative dimensions such as waterfront regeneration’s contribution to gentrification. Contemporary experiences from the United Kingdom could, for instance, feature ‘anti-social behaviour’, or highlight the transfer of waterway management from state to charity as the epitome of neoliberal rollback.
Waterways and the Cultural Landscape offers glimpses of waterways’ future prospects, noting, for example, the potential for digital appreciation. One might hope the editors’ optimistic vision for human–water relations comes to fruition. This will only be known through greater attention to all types of waterscapes, furthering the scholastic endeavour this book initiates and celebrates.
