Amundsen's Antarctica: fairyland stronghold, battleground and home

• Published in: The Polar Journal
• Main Author: Irving, C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2011
• Subjects: Amundsen; Antarctica; ecolinguistics; metaphor; Norwegian exploration; South Pole; Antarc*; South pole; The Polar Journal
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2440/71501; https://doi.org/10.1080/2154896X.2011.626622

Amundsen’s account of his expedition to the South Pole provides the basis for an analysis of three key representations of Antarctica – fairyland stronghold, battleground and home – and of the nature of his expedition in the light of these representations. The article focuses on the metaphors associated with each view of Antarctica, and the way in which the representations themselves function as metaphors. Amundsen’s vision of Antarctica as “home” gives useful insights into the relationship between humans and the environment. Catherine Irving