Saturday 11 May 2013

Endemophilia



Endemophilia: the particular love of the locally and the regionally distinctive in the people of that place. The English word, ‘endemic’, is based on the French word, endémique and has the Greek roots, endēmia (a dwelling in) and endēmos (native in the people) and philia (love of). [Albrecht 2010]

I have created the term, ‘endemophilia’, to posit an emplaced and home-based counter to traditionally defined nostalgia. Endemophilia captures in one word the particular love of the locally and regionally distinctive in the people of that place. It is similar to what Relph called “existential insideness” or the deep, satisfying feeling of being truly at home with one’s place and culture.
Endemophilia is a counter to the alienation and isolation expressed by the term nostalgia when a ‘local’ person is separated from their home environment. To have an emplaced love of home and its distinctive ecocultural qualities and characteristics is a precondition for having a negative experience when absent from home. In order to experience genuine homesickness, you must have already experienced ‘homewellness’ or endemophilia.