Paradise or Wilderness? Conflicting Perceptions of the American Geography in the Early Colonial Times

Year 2025, Issue: 63, 79 - 90, 30.06.2025

Himmet Umunç

Abstract

Abstract
This paper is primarily concerned with the early colonial reaction to the American geography that both the early trans-Atlantic English explorers and also the early colonizers of Virginia and New England represented in their writings. While, on the one hand, the American geography was mythologized as a utopia in terms of the myth of the classical golden age and Arcadian pastoral otium (carefree life) as well as idealized as an earthly paradise with reference to the Christian myth of the Garden of Eden, on the other hand it was described in dytopian terms as “a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men” (Bradford 62), with hardly bearable climactic conditions. Therefore, the early colonizers’ ambivalent or, more aptly, conflicting perceptions of the American geography as such, which became a recurrent discourse in their writings, will be analyzed and discussed in the paper on the basis of primary sources.
Öz
Bu bildirinin başlıca konusu, erken sömürgecilik döneminde, gerek Atlantik ötesi İngiliz kaşiflerin gerek Virginia’ya ve New England’a yerleşen sömürgecilerin, Amerikan coğrafyasına yayınlarında, ifade ettikleri yaklaşımlarıdır. Bu ifadelerde, bir yandan, Amerikan coğrafyası, mitolojik altın çağa özgü ve düşsel bir pastoral yaşamı içeren ütopya olarak algılanmış ve ayrıca, Hıristiyan inanışı bağlamında Cennet Bahçesi kavramı ile ilişkilendirilerek, yeryüzü cenneti olarak betimlenmiştir. Ancak, öte yandan, Amerikan coğrafyası, dayanılmaz iklim şartları ile, “yaban hayvanlar ve vahşi insanlarla dolu korkunç ve ıssız boş bir arazi” (Bradford 62) olarak distopia biçiminde anlatılmıştır. İşte bu bildiride, erken dönem sömürgecilerin, Amerikan coğrafyasına ilişkin olarak, anlatımlarında sürekli yer alan çelişkili, daha doğrusu zıtlık içeren algılamaları, birincil kaynaklara dayanılarak ele alınacak ve irdelenecektir.

Keywords

American geography , early American colonial writings , Virginia , New England , Amerikan coğrafyası , erken dönem Amerikan sömürgecilerinin anlatımları

Ethical Statement

I hereby confirm that my article submitted for publication in JAST is based on honest and original academic research and does not contain any plagiarism or undocumented primary or secondary material.

Supporting Institution

Başkent University, Ankara

Project Number

N/A

Thanks

I am grateful to the Başkent University authorities for their support.

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