Introduction: Island Narratives of Persistence and Resistance

Abstract

This introduction to our special issue “Island Narratives of Persistence and Resistance” focuses on the ongoing proliferation of neocolonial, neoimperial and neoliberal constructions of the island in western and continental texts and discourses. It discusses the double and paradoxical logic of the island trope – which simultaneously suggests confinement and freedom, isolation and connection, over- and underdevelopment, inclusion and exclusion – and the evident material effects that these persistent figurations continue to have on the lives of islanders. It then places the focus on the mechanisms of resistance to these island narratives as exemplified in a range of fiction and non-fiction works from or about various island locations: Singapore, Vanuatu, Samoa, Nauru, Manus Island, the Bahamas, St Lucia, New Zealand, Staten Island, and the island continent of Australia. The essays engage with recognizable tropes and uses of the island: islands of exception and offshores, treasure and trash islands, island fortresses and militarized zones, fantasy and tourist islands.