What Islands Say

Abstract

“Whether one is conscious of it or not,” says Christy Newton, “the ever-present and inundating usual signs and symbols of the social world perform a socializing function, similar to performing routines reminding people who they are and where they are” (2009, 21). Nowhere is this more the case than with islands. An island focuses, concentrates, reminds, inspires; it brings us up short against the matter in hand. It is not surprising therefore that Prospero works his magic on an island. As Robinson Crusoe demonstrated, an island is a human cosmos waiting to be created …