A Phenomenology of Islands

Abstract

The question is posed: is a coherent theory of islandness – nissology – possible? Faultlines within constructions of islands and islandness are noted. Some of these axes of contestation have remained latent but have the potential to be sharply divisive. Three of the identified faultlines are examined – the nature of the island ‘edge’, the import for questions of island memory and identity of massive inward and outward movements of people, and the appropriation of island ‘realness’ by those for whom ‘island’ best functions as metaphor. A case is made for the excision of the latter from the purview of island studies. Despite apparent irreconcilability within island studies’ emerging faultlines, it is argued that place theory does constitute a theoretical framing that can work for island studies. Following a brief overview of the faultlines that also exist within place studies, it is noted that the difference-respecting and identity focused nature of phenomenology of place is particularly apposite for island studies, and the paper concludes with a consideration of what a phenomenology of islands might look like.

Rural Islandness as a Lens for (Rural) HCI

“…To our knowledge, the relationship between islandness and rurality have not been explicitly explored, despite notable studies in rural island contexts [8-10, 13, 17-20, 22, 44, 45, 50, 51, 57, 58], and to our knowledge, the concepts have not yet been explicitly brought together. Islandness, just like rurality, is a contested term, emphasized differently across the island studies and geographic literature [1,3,23,34,54]. For example, Hay [34] finds divergent views about whether it should be considered metaphorically or as reality of place; or whether the isolation of the island defines it or the connectedness through the sea and lastly whether or not islander identity is tenacious or more fluid.…”

“…Islandness, just like rurality, is a contested term, emphasized differently across the island studies and geographic literature [1,3,23,34,54]. For example, Hay [34] finds divergent views about whether it should be considered metaphorically or as reality of place; or whether the isolation of the island defines it or the connectedness through the sea and lastly whether or not islander identity is tenacious or more fluid. There seems to be somewhat of a consensus though that what is distinct about islands in an era of globalisation is their unique and heightened sense of place [1,34].…”

“…For example, Hay [34] finds divergent views about whether it should be considered metaphorically or as reality of place; or whether the isolation of the island defines it or the connectedness through the sea and lastly whether or not islander identity is tenacious or more fluid. There seems to be somewhat of a consensus though that what is distinct about islands in an era of globalisation is their unique and heightened sense of place [1,34]. We draw on two theories of islandness; the first by Gill [23] indicates that the boundedness of the island creates unique ways of relating and identity dynamics, and the second by Vannini and Taggart [54], suggests that islandness is defined by the practice of islanding, that is that islandness is the act of islanders 'assemble[ing] together an island by way of making use of whatever is at hand, solving ongoing concerns as they present themselves' [54:225].…”

“…Gill [23] suggests that there are a number of different policy options which construct rural islands as either 'a nostalgic museum of rural life', 'summer play-ground', or 'retirement village' each with consequences for lived experience and potential futures creating positions for islanders to negotiate, support or resist [24]. New retirees, for example, may become staunch conservationists of the rural idyll and 'resist development favoured by less affluent locals', [25:156] and summer playground approaches can lead to empty holiday homes in winter as symbols of depopulation [34]. Globally and metaphorically, islands can also depict rural idyls and tropical paradises, as well as prisons [1], and in EU policy are represented as 'backward'.…”

History, Geography, Poetry: David Jones’s Late Modernism

“…Nonetheless, because islands are of necessity integrated into wider circuits of human intercourse, travel, and trade, their boundaries are permeable: "Connectedness describes the island condition better than isolation". 33 Despite his tendency to conceive of Britain in terms of a lost or occluded cultural unity, Jones's work also acknowledges the connectivity of insular spaces through its pervasive concern with rivers, waterways, and sea voyages.…”