Islands and Islandness
“‘No man is an island…’ said John Donne**, and one may add that even if he was, no island is free from the inroads of the sea, as no man is free from the impact of social forces and the life around him.” Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (Indian film director, novelist, screenwriter, and a journalist, creator of award winning films)
** English poet and cleric John Donne (1572-1631)
“We with our lives are like islands in the sea, or like trees in the forest… But the trees also commingle their roots in the darkness underground”. William James, pioneering psychologist and philosopher
“First there was the sea
I was born among islands, I too an island
Ηave temporarily emerged……”
(From Tito Patrikios’ poem The Mountains)
Today’s piece is about islands and islandness. I’ll be discussing the topic drawing on material I’ve been reading recently, as well as, my own experience of living on an island for almost four decades. Having lived on an island almost all my adult life I now think of myself as an island dweller, as someone maybe who has put roots here that perhpas can never be as strong or as deep as the people’s that originate from the island. The physical places we all inhabit in some sense inhabit us, and my own identity of place seems to be inclusive of my own birthplace, my parents’ birthplaces, Athens and the island I live on. We carry the places we’ve known or loved with us like portable homelands. Many of the aspects of island living that define what we term islandness have an influence on my life, to one degree or another, but it is probably more accurate to say that each one of us experiences, understands and negotiates islands and islandness in an individual way, and it could be that, as island studies suggest, a universal island experience does not exist, as both people and individual islands are unique.
In the first article (1) with the title, Understanding “Islandness,” which has its origins in an online conference organized by the University of London and the University of Malta in 2020, islandness is explored through the lens of different disciplines. The second paper, which I found in an online magazine published by the University of Thessalia, is titled, Accessibility and Attractiveness of the Aegean Islands / Προσπελασιμότητα και Ελκυστικότητα των Νησιών του Αιγαίου (2). There is overlap in the concepts and issues that both papers explore, but one considers islandness within a global context and the other is focused on the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea. I have also included a short extract from a paper with the title If Islands Did Not Exist, It Would Be Necessary to Invent Them: Grappling With Divergent Ascriptions of Islandness in Island Studies by Grydehøj, A., Su, P., Markussen, U., & Mausio, A. (3)
- In the first paper it is assumed from the start that islandness is a contested concept between disciplines, cultures and how island identity is understood, and the article explores some of the different meanings and ideas without intending to unify or reconcile them, “with the aim of keeping multiple understandings of islandness in creative tension.” It is also highlighted that the different understandings of islandness always require us to reflect on the context in which the term is used.
The writers recognise that the entry point into island studies is size and they consider islandenss as smallness, and also, the fact that small is dependent both on context and worldview. And although islandness often implies smallness the idea that all islands are small is not accurate. For instance, they mention that Papua New Guinea is one half of a huge island and has a population of about 10 million, which is higher than the population of certain European countries. Smallness can also be a characterizer of vulnerability or helplessness, interpretations that “help to embed a global narrative that island peoples consider themselves and their islands vulnerable, leading to anxiety and a loss of self-belief.” However, this narrative of vulnerability is often rejected by many islanders, as is the worldview that pictures “ocean-as-barrier and land-as-security.”
There is variation in how social science disciplines view smallness. For geographers the smallness of small islands is interpreted alongside other spatial characteristics. Some have used concepts like insularity and isolation to explain the way distance influences social practices and ways of adjusting livelihoods, taking into account climate change and socioeconomic influences. Other geographers are interested in the distance between small islands and metropolitan states, and the implications of this in the world system. Also, although, an island has as a geographical notion been used for millennia to define a landmass surrounded by water, questions arise as to why, for instance, Greenland is considered the world’s largest island, whereas, Australia is termed a continent. It is suggested that continents might imply power, whereas islands are often termed as remote, isolated, and challenged. They also discuss the recent pandemic in relation to the inequality of power and resources between small states or small islands and larger states, and how vaccine allocation among states or places was the result of “a complex interplay of diplomacy, public health, public opinion, and economics, among other factors.”
Anthropologists have viewed islands as natural incubators of cultural evolution, and have explored connections between maritime and continental cultures, with an emphasis on the centrality of the ocean. Some anthropologists value the perpheriality of small islands because this increases the likelihood of being “untouched” by the forces of globalization. And others more recently, have seeked ways to protect these diverse ways of being in the world from the forces of modernization and globalization or the paternalism of mainlanders. Additionally, they explore islandness as culture, the concept of island identity, which can be expressed in a variety of ways, and the various framings of islands as Οthers. Economists, on the other hand, usually view small size as a challenge, because island economies cannot benefit from economies of scale, and are prone to “exogenous shocks.” On the other hand, the development of tourism generates high levels of economic growth; however, problems arise when an island is heavily reliant on tourism alone.
Political scientists have a mixed view of the implications of small size and islandness. Some authors claim that statistically small islands are more likely to be liberal states, but others believe that this idyllic interpretation needs to be nuanced because smallness and islandness can also faciltiarte authoritarian leadership styles, if dominant values and cultural norms are mobilized against the minority or those with different views. Additionally, there are many case studies that support the creation of strong cultural community bonds that have developed on islands (Ioannis Vogiatzakis, Pungetti & Mannion 2008; Donaldson 2018; Keesing 1980; and others). There is also mention of the resourcefulness needed to survive under conditions of smallness. In Gozo, an island of the Maltese archipelago, there is a cultural concept that means “putting things right” related to this concept, and in Fiji there’s the comparable concept of “collective work for communal benefit.” However, it is suggested that the reality is more complex and that conflicts and divisions also exist within island communities, and it is argued that these typically beneficial cultural features may not always be conducive to democracy (Baldacchino, 2005).
Another darker point made in the article is how smallness and water boundedness of islands has led to their use as laboratories of epidemiological studies or to islands and islanders being experimented on. The examples provided in the article are the Bernier and Dorre Islands off the coast of Australia, which were used in the early 20th century to imprison Indigenous Australians to supposedly limit the spread of syphilis, “although historical and oral records reveal that few of those incarcerated actually had this disease (Stingemore and Meyer 2009),” and the Marshall Islands that were used by the USA military for testing nuclear weapons, exposing the islanders to nuclear fallout and observing the effects without the people’s informed consent (McElfish, Hallgren & Yamada, 2015). Of course, islands have been used as places of exile and marginalization throughout history all over the world. In Greece, for instance, not that long ago, small islands, one very close to the one I live, were used as places of exile for political dissenters, and Spinaloga, today’s second most visited site in Crete, is a tiny island with a long history that was used as a lepor’s colony in the 20th century.
As for how islandness is perceived or depicted by writers and artists, in the article they provide a quote by Nicholas Allen (2017), who writing about Ireland refers to the coast as “the permeabale barrier through which a series of cultural exchanges, literary, historical, political, and environmental, take place.” Tasmanian painter Michaye Boulter is fascinated by this edge and the interplay between water and land, and writer David Weale sees the land’s edge as a place of connection,” a powerful erogenous zone, where land and sea mate…..” They also refer to Rachel Carson, who writes about our deep seated connection to the sea, and that depite our land-based existence, we “re-enter it mentally and imaginatively.” Finally, research with coastal communities in the UK highlight how coastal areas and being near the shore are experienced as therapeutic landscapes contributing to our well being.
A question also explored within island studies is whether an island is defined more by land, water or both. For istance, geographical, societal and psychological boundedness of other bounded places, like mountain communities or valleys, are similar but do not derive from being surrounded by water. Sea boundedness has been connected to a strong identification with a sense of place, but this is also true for other bounded places. Islandness is also increasingly been perceived as “a state of mind” (Randall, 2021), a sense of identity not necessarily defined by water boundedness. Urban islands also challenge the concept of remoteness as they’re connected physically and administratively with the mainland, so in this case connectedness and proximity might be more prominent features of islandness. Other aspects to consider are mobility and immobility. Studies are also expanding to island like spaces, and also how by positioning the island as the Other we can both marginalize and exceptionalize.
In the conclusion of the article we are reminded of the need to critique how we measure small, and consider the benefits and challenges of smallness, as well as the fact that smallness can both allow agility in decision making and lead to stagnation. Also, understanding and defining the physicality and sociality of islandness is subjective, and the definer carries biases and preconceived ideas. It is also highlighted that the concept of islandness contains contradictions, islands can have small economies or they can be global powerhouses like Singapore or Hong Kong, and island cultures can place emphasis on mobility and movement while also remain deeply rooted and connected to place. Similarly, the sea can be perceived as a barrier or a road to the rest of the world, and there are cultures that view the land and the sea as connected. Finally, as mentioned at the beginning there is no intention to reconcile the diverse realities, meanings and narratives, but instead highlight the need to contextualize and the need for a more open and candid recognition of these differences, and the ways they can be mobilized to frame island issues.
2.In general, islandness is defined as the particular geographical, economic and social character of island regions, which is determined by territorial discontinuity, isolation and difficult access, regionality. It is a comprehensive term that, as we saw above, can be defined geomorphologically, psychologically, socially, culturally, economically, politically and administratively, and energetically. In the second paper that I will refer, islandness refers to the “objective” characteristics of islands, but also to a “feeling or sense of.”
The “objective” characteristics could be a) the small size (which concerns most Greek islands) of the population and the area which implies a limited quantity and variety of resources, and which practically means reduced large-scale productive activity, and a small and dispersed market, b) the isolation due to the discontinuity of the space which implies increased costs in all transport and economic activity. In the case of island complexes, the phenomenon of “double islandness / insularity” of the smaller islands, which to a certain extent depend on another island that functions as a local center, c) the unique and fragile natural and cultural environment. Due to isolation, habitats of rare endemic species and isolated communities with particular cultural characteristics, lifestyles and ways of managing resources are created, and finally, d) the special experiential identity of the islands which refers to the symbolic and psychological dimensions of the islands and how their inhabitants and visitors perceive them. For example, the image of the Aegean islands in school textbooks moves within the bipolarities of isolation vs freedom and the vastness of the sea, or attractive vacation spots vs places of isolation in winter. Another question that should perhaps be investigated in parallel is whether islandness concerns only the problems and difficulties that arise from it or whether it can also be an attractive and exploitable peculiarity.
The authors wish with this work to approach the problem of accessibility and isolation of the Aegean islands from the mainland with quantitative data. As regards to the permanent residents, a first approach was attempted using indicators in order to assess two axes of attractiveness: isolation-accessibility and the existence / access to basic infrastructure and services. Among other things, a significant problem is the low frequency of ship routes that “exiles” the islands and contributes to the feeling of isolation, especially in winter, as well as the high cost of fares. Greece is a predominantly island (and mountainous) country. In total there are approximately 6,000 islands and islets, but only 227 are inhabited. Due to this peculiarity it has one of the longest coastlines in the world, and its coastline exceeds 15,000 kilometers; however, despite this there are significant shortcomings and problems of access, transportation, especially in the winter months, along with the increasing cost of fares. Access to hospitals or other public services is also often particularly difficult for inhabitants of smaller or poorer islands as they are often forced to travel to other islands or to the mainland.
A term examined in this work is the attractiveness of a place, which can be considered the image and view that various population groups have of the place. Questions that need to be explored are: attractiveness for where, attractiveness for whom and attractiveness when, as attractiveness changes over time. Also, in order to measure attractiveness, the method of assessment and measurement needs to be clarified. A more comprehensive approach to assessing attractiveness should combine the methods of the humanities with the use of indicators (qualitive and quantitive research methods) that will show the real situation of an area, such as distance and means of access, level of employment, number of hospitals, existence of public services, etc.
Other issues beyond those investigated in the above work are the dwindling polulation of the islands, the internal migration of the inhabitants either, for example, as a consequence of the abandonment of traditional agricultural and other activities, or the inability to provide the islanders with basic services such as health and education, at a level comparable to what is considered satisfactory in modern societies. A reality that we cannot ignore is that for the most part, statistically, the EU islands have for decades exhibited significant differences with the mainland regions in many areas. However, the significant post-war population decline seems to have been limited (for certain islands) more recently mainly due to the development of tourism, agri-food (agricultural production and the food and beverage industry) which is another important activity on the islands, but also due to an effort to create better living conditions through the creation of more basic infrastructures and the provision of public services, so that locals can remain on the islands, but also to make the islands attractive places for permanent settlement for non-locals.
Finally, I will end with an extract from a third paper (3), which suggests we need to keep an open mind and be respectful of how people experience, understand or define island, islander and islandness. For instance, while I was writng this I asked my husband how he experienced his birthplace, which is one of the bigger islands, and he told me that while he was growing up they didn’t much think of it as an island due to its size, proximity and connection to the mainland by two bridges; however, as an outsider I had not thought of that and automatically perceived it as an island because it is surrounded by water. Interestingly, it was, according to a newly submitted bill for the country’s island policy and future development of the island, acknowledged legally as an island in 2020.
Grydehøj, Markussen & Mausio suggest that islandness is not an innate attribute of all pieces of land surrounded by water and that many people who live on such pieces of land do not regard the land/water as islands, or themselves as islanders, and islandness is not necessarily considered as significant for their lives. They aslo note that islandness implies different things across cultures, times, and places, and that even island studies scholars feel that certain forms of physical geography are more productive of islandness than others.
They add: “None of this is to deny that many people who live on islands do celebrate or feel the desire to defend islandness. Certain island histories, geographies, heritages, and networks of interethnic relation may be more likely to inspire such conceptualisations than others. But this is precisely the point. The popular and scholarly effort to understand islands, islanders, and islandness suggests a universal island experience, even as so much of island studies insists (correctly, we believe) that individual islands are unique. It could be interesting to learn why certain people label their own places as islands, how they see islandness as something valuable and precious, and how they embrace an islander identity. To do so, however, requires researchers to not take islandness itself for granted, to not assume that ‘small pieces of land surrounded by water’ simply are islands. It is clear that some such places are not islands to the people whose opinions about them surely matter most (the purported ‘islanders’), and it is clear that islanders’ conceptions of ‘island’ may differ from those of outside observers.We believe there is value in island studies. However, we believe it is important for scholars to think carefully about why and how islandness matters in particular places…..”
References
- Aideen Foley, Laurie Brinklow, Jack Corbett, Ilan Kelman, Carola Klöck, Stefano Moncada, Michelle Mycoo, Patrick Nunn, Jonathan Pugh, Stacy-ann Robinson, Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur & Rory Walshe (2023): Understanding “Islandness,” Annals of the American Association of Geographers, DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2023.2193249
- Γιάννης Σπιλάνης, Θανάσης Κίζος, Ιουλία Κονδύλη, Νίκος Μισαηλίδης (Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου); Προσπελασιμότητα και Ελκυστικότητα των Νησιών του Αιγαίου, Περιοδικό αειχώρος, Πανεπιστημιακές Εκδόσεις Θεσσαλίας, file: ///C:/Users/User/Downloads/art5b-2.pdf
- Grydehøj, A., Su, P., Markussen, U., & Mausio, A. (2025): If Islands Did Not Exist, It Would Be Necessary to Invent Them: Grappling With Divergent Ascriptions of Islandness in Island Studies. Island Studies Journal, 20(2), 1–22, https://doi.org/10.24043/001c.137602
