80 Degrees of Seperation: Landscape in Literature

Two writers in the early 1900s, Katherine Mansfield in New Zealand and Willa Cather in the United States tallgrass prairie, chronicled both the cultural and physical nuances of their frontiers. Their stories are set in rich textural backdrops, made vivid with their descriptions of natural environments. These descriptions provide the context for this paper's exploration. The dense and evocative imagery of these two writers provides a point of departure for a comparison of the two landscapes. The agricultural settlement patterns and natural systems of the New Zealand bush and farmland and those of the United States tallgrass prairie invite comparison. Mansfield's and Cather's narratives provide the guide for this study, capturing the subtle differences and underlying similarities of the textures and patterns of these two landscapes, while emphasising the differences in colour and scale. The degrees of separation are not as distinct as the 80 degrees of latitude that lie between them. Instead there is a myriad of subtle, rather than singular, differentiations. This visual analysis is not intended to address the significant cultural differences of these two places. Rather, it is a study of visual distinctions and similarities guided by the environmental qualities identified by a native author from each locale: Mansfield (New Zealand bush and farmland), and Cather (United States tallgrass prairie). Guided by their words, my own investigation of place is a graphic exploration of the physical environment: the line, form, pattern, texture, colour, light and spatial qualities of each landscape