Reading Response

Loving our mountains to death

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web14x/wfeature-sustainable-summits-aac   I picked an alpinist article this week that has to do with waste and the environmental implications of climbing our favorite mountains maybe a bit too much. The article basically just talked about the issues that surround mountaineering, and a meeting in Colorado that was held between experts on the issues, and asked…

The post-colonialism affect on Everest

In the article, Climbing Mount Everest: Post-colonialism in the Culture of Ascent, author Stephen Slemon explores the use of mountaineering literature, particularly in the past, as a colonial allegory. Although quite dry and mundane at times, the article picked up speed throughout the middle and sparked my interest while explaining the effects that commercialization has…

Week 14

The reading regarding the Postcolonialism in the Culture of Ascent felt very much like a refresher of material that has been discussed weeks prior but also had interesting facts that I had not been aware of. It has been heavily discussed in class and from every angle the reasoning behind commercialism within mountaineering, but what…

Colonialism

I know that most posts I make begin with me pointing out that this week’s reading was something we have been vaguely discussing all semester, but we have discussed many things this semester, and colonialism/imperialism has been a large topic. Especially when dealing with the ‘golden age’ of mountaineering, when a first summit for all…

Week 14 Orientalism

The topic of Post colonialism is a very hefty topic which no surprise came with a slightly hefty reading.  In the sense that it is a stretching topic that has roots, most obviously, in earlier themes such as, no surprise, colonialism.  The readings from these week highlighted this very well and showed a range of…

Postcolonialism in the Culture of Ascent

I may be going off on a slight tangent in this response, but I think Stephen Slemon makes a lot of interesting observations that can be driven a little deeper especially relating to colonialism. I think Slemon also comes very close to answer the question of why people choose to climb the tallest peaks and…

Week 14

The detailed account by Said defines orientalism as India and the Biblical lands of the Middle East. The term, “Oriental”, was used to describe the Middle East and it’s near and far surroundings. Said shows the point of view that the West held about the East, including the political, historical, and cultural views. The Orient is…

Orient and Postcolonialism – Week 14

Reading Response for week 14 Bryant Lymburn This weeks reading focused upon the chapter provided on orientalism and an article discussing the postcolonialism in the climbing culture. Both ideas provide issues and points of interest based on the context in which they are both used. In the first article on orientalism there is very overly…

Post Colonialism

Although Climbing Mount Everest: Post Colonialism in the culture of ascent, may be considered informative to some, at this point in the class there was little that Slemon wrote that this class has not already discussed at length. The subject of the ownership of Mount Everest is not so cut and dry. At the expense of…

Postcolonialism and Orientalism

The ideas put forth in both of the readings for this week are a lot to bite off. Though there are some difficult concepts in these writings, I believe there are a couple of key ideas to take away and consider in mountaineering. The first idea I want to discuss is one that Slemon writes…