Abstract
The interdisciplinarity of cultural studies enables one to: explore – the realms of culture that is non-canonical; investigate – systems of cultural representations contesting power structures; and most significantly, analyse – cultural representations as historical narratives of a society situated within space-place-landscape. Literature documents and represents lived, perceived, and conceived experiences and cultures. However, they may not always be documented in the written form and are either passed down as oral narratives, are embedded within contemporary cultures and practices or leave symbols and evidences in geographical spaces such as architectures and monuments. This paper explores, investigates, and analyses island spaces. Subjected to isolation and mystification in colonial and adventure narratives, island spaces need to be studied for their art, culture, literature, and histories. They assume roles of tourist destinations, prisons, asylums, and sites for anthropological research. This paper aims to understand how islands are represented in literature, films, and media such as P.D. James’ police procedural The Lighthouse (2005), the 1996 film Kaala Pani, or in Hiroyuki Okiura’s anime film A Letter to Momo (2012). Adopting a new historicist and cultural materialist theoretical framework along with spatial theories and island studies, the methodology includes textual analysis supported by relevant sources which include historical documents, newspaper articles, books, and journals. This paper thus observes how cultural studies provides a platform for diverse fields like geography, history, cinema, and literature to come together and understand the functioning of social spaces and spatial practices.
Presenters
Shrija SrinivasanStudent, Doctoral Studies, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani (BITS Pilani), Rajasthan, India Sushila Shekhawat
Associate Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS-PILANI), Rajasthan, India
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Cultural Studies, Islands, Spaces, Spatial Practices, Society, Culture
