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dc.contributor.authorZealand, Clark
dc.date.accessioned2007-05-17 19:25:47 (GMT)
dc.date.available2007-05-17 19:25:47 (GMT)
dc.date.issued2007-05-17T19:25:47Z
dc.date.submitted2007
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10012/3036
dc.description.abstractRooted in a critical dialogue that endeavours to theorize experience in contrast to the colonial impetus, this dissertation explores the lived experience of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. As a result of this disposition, the purpose of this dissertation is to expose the dynamics associated with colonized experiences and empirically research the lived experience of thru-hikers from an ecophenomenological perspective. The subsequent approach views the activities of the lived human body as the process through which the world comes into being. Building on Merleau-Pontian phenomenology, ecophenomenology provides the foundation of the experiential self, and thus underlies the representation of the trail environment as a sensuous field of human activity where one is merged with one's socio-ecological surroundings. Explication of empirical materials from 27 participant interviews resulted in a wide range of thru-hiking experiences representing the operative essence of Appalachian Trail thru-hiking. The operative essence was identified across 4 broad dimensions: Perseity, Sojourning, Kinship, and Wild Imbrication. Each dimension comprised a dialectic which emerged from interview excerpts both congruent with and in contrast to wilderness ideology. Further exploration of wilderness ideals resulted in thru-hikers negotiating tensions related to ideological wilderness meanings and their own actual thru-hiking experiences. This negotiation allowed a broader conception of wilderness to be illustrated as a continuum of meaningful experiences. In addition, ecoliteracy emerged as an experientially driven learning process whereby thru-hikers negotiate alternative meanings of wilderness with ideological meanings. The implications for experiential and wilderness related research along with management concerns are discussed.en
dc.format.extent1268444 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherUniversity of Waterlooen
dc.subjectwildernessen
dc.subjectoutdoor recreationen
dc.subjectecophenomenologyen
dc.subjectlived-experienceen
dc.subjectAppalachian Trailen
dc.subjecthikingen
dc.titleDECOLONIZING EXPERIENCES: AN ECOPHENOMENOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE LIVED-EXPERIENCE OF APPALACHIAN TRAIL THRU-HIKERSen
dc.typeDoctoral Thesisen
dc.pendingfalseen
dc.subject.programRecreation and Leisure Studiesen
uws-etd.degree.departmentRecreation and Leisure Studiesen
uws-etd.degreeDoctor of Philosophyen
uws.typeOfResourceTexten
uws.peerReviewStatusUnrevieweden
uws.scholarLevelGraduateen


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