Literary notes about Landscape (AI summary)
The term “landscape” in literature is remarkably versatile, functioning not only as a description of the physical world but also as a metaphor for internal and societal states. In some works the word paints vivid, natural vistas—a field of health and color in a pastoral setting ([1]) or the broad, shifting canvases of nature that evoke both freedom and melancholy ([2], [3]). In other texts, however, it carries dramatic, almost cinematic qualities, depicting scenes where natural elements act as catalysts for change, as in the explosive alterations that transform the environment into a dynamic diorama ([4], [5]). Beyond its literal use, “landscape” frequently assumes a symbolic role, representing human creativity and even mechanization, where it stands in for constructed or ideological backdrops ([6], [7]). Overall, the multifaceted use of “landscape” deepens narrative texture, inviting readers to consider both the tangible world and the abstract realms of emotion and culture.
- It was the first day of June, and the sheep-shearing season culminated, the landscape, even to the leanest pasture, being all health and colour.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - To the right the towers of Rouen stood out against the sky, and to the left the landscape was bounded by the distant slopes covered with trees.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - “Look!” said the Padre, stretching his hand over the spreading landscape.
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte - Detonations and falls were heard on all sides, great overthrows of icebergs, which altered the whole landscape like a diorama.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - Then explosions, cave–ins, and great iceberg somersaults would occur all around us, altering the scenery like the changing landscape in a diorama.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - In these regions where science is denied we shall have to be satisfied with landscape-painting.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - And the chicks that at first follow her and find shelter under her wings will soon be forgotten also and relegated to the mechanical landscape.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana