2
L. Le Dû-Blayo and O. Musard
be a “landscape” in the sense of an area appreciated by society? Should we restrict
the meaning to that of a physical description? To put it plainly: is there an underwater
landscape and if so, are the concepts and methods the same as for terrestrial landscapes? How then, should the disciplinary approaches to landscape, both terrestrial
and underwater, be organised? What are the prospects in terms of public policy? We
must therefore attempt to build lexical bridges and develop correspondences between
subjects of research to avoid, where possible, cross-disciplinary debates confined to
their specific frameworks of reflection and analysis.
Prior to paradigms and their implications in terms of methods and public policies,
the authors are faced with the concrete question of terminology and particularly of the
French–English translation. The term paysage sous-marin, in French, is not problematic per se. Only the word paysage is used both in everyday and scientific language
to describe the area perceived by an observer. The generic term paysage is frequently
associated with an adjective which specifies either the spatial scope of application (paysage rural, paysage urbain, paysage littoral, etc.), or the methodological
scope: écologie du paysage, pédopaysage
2 , etc. (Le Dû-Blayo et al. 2008a, b).
The phrase paysage sous-marin is therefore immediately understood (even if it subsequently criticized) as a reference to and consideration of the landscape, limited to
areas underwater.
The situation is more complex in English, as landscape, used to refer to landscape
in general, is completed by specific vocabulary based on a spatial qualification:
townscape (urban landscapes), seascape (coastal and marine landscapes); landscape
is thus more precisely understood to mean countryside landscapes, i.e. exclusively
rural. The term seascape is developing particularly in public policy, through reflection
on the protection of marine landscapes
3 , within the framework of off-shore wind farm
establishment for example. It is used in everyday and scientific English to refer more
particularly to marine and coastal landscapes, i.e. the sea seen from its surface. It may
be completed by an adjective to specify its use for a sea view, beneath the surface:
undersea seascape, underwater seascape, thus encompassing all views within the
body of water, therefore in the three-dimensional entirety of the Big Blue. But the term
landscape itself can be specified in an underwater application as evidenced by Kirill
M. Petrov’s work in Russian titled Underwater landscapes: theory, methods and
research (1989). The reference Underwater landscape (also including fresh water)
is in fact widely used alongside other references such as undersea landscape or
other more specific terms like seafloor landscape or seabed landscape. Underwater
landscape is therefore taken to be the continuation of a landform beneath the water’s
surface with, in the same way as on the surface, a relief, geology, patterns of erosion,
plant coverage, habitats and related human activities, particularly the exploitation
of resources found on this underwater topography. English law does not therefore
establish the same divide as French law between undersea landscape and landscape,
and the water level is a fluctuating limit on a fixed topographic continuum. In this
2 Landscape ecology, soilscape.
3 For example “Dorset coast landscape & seascape character assessment”, 2010
www.cscope.eu/_. . . Dorset/Land-and_Seascape_Character_Assessment.pdf.
L. Le Dû-Blayo and O. Musard
be a “landscape” in the sense of an area appreciated by society? Should we restrict
the meaning to that of a physical description? To put it plainly: is there an underwater
landscape and if so, are the concepts and methods the same as for terrestrial landscapes? How then, should the disciplinary approaches to landscape, both terrestrial
and underwater, be organised? What are the prospects in terms of public policy? We
must therefore attempt to build lexical bridges and develop correspondences between
subjects of research to avoid, where possible, cross-disciplinary debates confined to
their specific frameworks of reflection and analysis.
Prior to paradigms and their implications in terms of methods and public policies,
the authors are faced with the concrete question of terminology and particularly of the
French–English translation. The term paysage sous-marin, in French, is not problematic per se. Only the word paysage is used both in everyday and scientific language
to describe the area perceived by an observer. The generic term paysage is frequently
associated with an adjective which specifies either the spatial scope of application (paysage rural, paysage urbain, paysage littoral, etc.), or the methodological
scope: écologie du paysage, pédopaysage
2 , etc. (Le Dû-Blayo et al. 2008a, b).
The phrase paysage sous-marin is therefore immediately understood (even if it subsequently criticized) as a reference to and consideration of the landscape, limited to
areas underwater.
The situation is more complex in English, as landscape, used to refer to landscape
in general, is completed by specific vocabulary based on a spatial qualification:
townscape (urban landscapes), seascape (coastal and marine landscapes); landscape
is thus more precisely understood to mean countryside landscapes, i.e. exclusively
rural. The term seascape is developing particularly in public policy, through reflection
on the protection of marine landscapes
3 , within the framework of off-shore wind farm
establishment for example. It is used in everyday and scientific English to refer more
particularly to marine and coastal landscapes, i.e. the sea seen from its surface. It may
be completed by an adjective to specify its use for a sea view, beneath the surface:
undersea seascape, underwater seascape, thus encompassing all views within the
body of water, therefore in the three-dimensional entirety of the Big Blue. But the term
landscape itself can be specified in an underwater application as evidenced by Kirill
M. Petrov’s work in Russian titled Underwater landscapes: theory, methods and
research (1989). The reference Underwater landscape (also including fresh water)
is in fact widely used alongside other references such as undersea landscape or
other more specific terms like seafloor landscape or seabed landscape. Underwater
landscape is therefore taken to be the continuation of a landform beneath the water’s
surface with, in the same way as on the surface, a relief, geology, patterns of erosion,
plant coverage, habitats and related human activities, particularly the exploitation
of resources found on this underwater topography. English law does not therefore
establish the same divide as French law between undersea landscape and landscape,
and the water level is a fluctuating limit on a fixed topographic continuum. In this
2 Landscape ecology, soilscape.
3 For example “Dorset coast landscape & seascape character assessment”, 2010
www.cscope.eu/_. . . Dorset/Land-and_Seascape_Character_Assessment.pdf.