Kulturlandskapsdebatten i Norge 1987-1996

The paper discusses the debate concerning varying usages and definitions of the concept "cultural landscape" in Norway between 1987 and 1996. First is given a brief historical presentation of the adoption and use of the concept in different academic fields of enquiry in Norway from the 1930s and more so in the 1960s. In the late 1980s, a debate on the concept arose, in particular as the cultural landscape became an object of physical planning. Three main strands of argument have developed in this debate: the first was concerned with the nature-culture dichotomy; the second arose as a result of the meeting of agricultural and environmental policy-makers in a degree of common understanding; and the third involved criticism of ways in which the concept had been used in planning and environmental management.