Sensing the Natural in the Caribbean's Nature Island

ABSTRACT

This article uses research carried out in the Caribbean island of Dominica to consider how sensory experiences shape and influence people's perceptions of and relationships to nature. People's ideas of nature are not purely abstract; they are embodied and emplaced in geographical and social contexts. That is, people acquire understandings of nature through their experiences of the natural world, their engagements with flowers and birds, rivers and mountains, forests and vegetable gardens. On this basis, this article explores how sensory perception, in addition to being a way to apprehend the material reality of the natural environment, also plays a role in how people relate to and think about nature and the natural, based on their bodily experiences in a particular place.

KEYWORDS:

• nature
• sensuous geography
• Caribbean
• Dominica