The Unforeseen Wilderness, Kentucky's Red River Gorge by Wendell Berry: partial translation and commentary

Abstract

Red River Gorge is beautiful geological area inside the Daniel Boone National Forest in east-central Kentucky, which is rich in flora and fauna. When in 1962 the construction of a flood control dam was proposed, the essayist Wendell Berry, environmental activist and farmer, couldn't simply stand by. The University of Kentucky asked the author to write a book about the Gorge and its conservation, and Berry accepted creating a suggestive essay entitled: The Unforeseen Wilderness, Kentucky's Red River Gorge. Here is presented a partial translation of this essay by Wendell Berry, which tries to be as accurate as possible in following the author into this unsuspected natural place. This thesis also examines Berry's ideas about nature as a place worthy of respect.