Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how predictability and control affects perceptions of agency in nature in the context of mountain tourism in 19th century Norway and the breaking of norms of caution. How can interpretations of agency in seemingly wild places be understood in relation to technology and control?

Paper long abstract:

In 19th century Norway, a growing number of tourists were pushing the boundaries of what was perceived as sensible and worthwhile mountain travelling, by breaking local norms of caution and safety. These norms were grounded in lived knowledge of how local landscapes act, when they are dangerous, and how to get through them safely. This knowledge, combined with a view of nature as mainly livelihood and productive land was not conducive to difficult, dangerous hikes up steep mountains for the sake of a spectacular view. While deliberate risk taking and intentionally increasing the degree of difficulty may have seemed foolish to locals, this deliberate norm breaking was essential to the experience pursued by tourists. Tourists sought places identified by aesthetic qualities that were seemingly of little significance to locals, such as mountain tops. Increasing attraction to spectacular and challenging hikes took place during a time also characterized by technological and scientific developments, leading to increased predictability and control. This reduced the significance of natural restrictions and forces comprising the agency of the landscape. Growing control and predictability may have contributed significantly to creating places out of previously avoided locations by allowing tourists to overcome natural restrictions by way of technology and control that could bypass the threatening and punishing features of the mountains that grounded local norms of caution. This paper examines how intentional norm breaking contributed to creating an inviting place out of the previously hostile mountain landscape by way of domestication.