Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Contemporary Art and Unforgetting in Colonial Landscapes pp 17–29Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Islands of Empire: Geographies of Forgetting

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 524 Accesses

Part of the book series: Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies ((PMMS))

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the island of Great Britain and the role that islands have played in the project of empire.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Gillis, JR (2003) ‘Taking History Offshore: Atlantic Islands in European Minds 1400–1800’. In Edmond, R & Smith, V (eds.) Islands in History and Representation. London: Routledge.

  2. 2.

    Dening, G (1980) Islands and Beaches. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, p. 32.

  3. 3.

    Lowenthal , D (2007) Islands, Lovers, and Others. Geographical Review, 97 (2), 202–229. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30034162.

  4. 4.

    Gillis, JR (2003) ‘Taking History Offshore: Atlantic Islands in European Minds 1400–1800’. In Edmond, R & Smith, V (eds.) Islands in History and Representation. London: Routledge, p. 20.

  5. 5.

    Riquet, J (2014) The Aesthetics of Island Space: Perception, Ideology, Geopoetics. Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Arts, University of Zurich.

  6. 6.

    Freedgood , E (2012) ‘Islands of Whiteness’. Victorian Studies, 54 (2), 298–304. https://doi.org/10.2979/victorianstudies.54.2.298.

  7. 7.

    Dee, J (1570) ‘Brytannicae Reipublicae Synopsis’. In The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee, and the Catalogue of His Library of Manuscripts: From the Original Manuscripts in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, and Trinity College Library. Cambridge and London: Camden Society 1842.

  8. 8.

    Technically, the British Empire did not begin until 1707 Acts of Union when England and Scotland became united as Great Britain.

  9. 9.

    Swingen, AL (2015) ‘Unfree Labour and the Origins of Empire’. In Labour, Slavery, and the Origins of the British Atlantic Empire. Yale University Press, p. 14.

  10. 10.

    Sipress, J (1997) ‘Relearning Race: Teaching Race as a Cultural Construction’. The History Teacher, 30 (2), 175–185. https://doi.org/10.2307/494572.

  11. 11.

    Beckles, H (2016) The First Black Slave Society. University of West Indies Press.

  12. 12.

    Walvin, J (2007) A Short History of Slavery. London: Penguin Books, p. 52.

  13. 13.

    Ibid.

  14. 14.

    Ibid., p. 162.

  15. 15.

    Draper, N (2008) ‘The City of London and Slavery: Evidence from the First Dock Companies 1795–1800’. Economic History Review, 61 (May, 2).

  16. 16.

    For more information on the research project, see https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/project/.

  17. 17.

    Olusoga , D (2015) ‘The History of British Slave Ownership Has Been Buried: Now Its Scale Can Be Revealed’. The Guardian, July 12. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/12/british-history-slavery-buried-scale-revealed. Accessed 4 September 2018.

  18. 18.

    Mills , C (1997) The Racial Contract. Cornell University Press.

  19. 19.

    This very brief overview can be explored further in the writing of Scott Nietzel in his Ph.D. examination entitled ‘The Falklands War: Understanding the Power of Context in Shaping Argentine Strategic Decisions’ (2007). Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. For a more detailed analysis on the historical colonisation of the Falkland Islands see Reisman, W. Michael (1983) ‘The Struggle for the Falklands’. Faculty Scholarship Series. Paper 726. Yale Law School.

  20. 20.

    Murdoch, H (2009) ‘A Legacy of Trauma: Caribbean Slavery, Race, Class, and Contemporary Identity in “Abeng”’. Research in African Literatures, 40 (4), 65–88. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40468162.

  21. 21.

    This took place most notably during the Berlin West Africa Conference (1884–1885) and through a series of smaller agreements in 1890.

  22. 22.

    Chamberlain (2010) The Scramble for Africa, 3rd edition. London, UK: Pearson Educated Ltd., p. 3.

  23. 23.

    Gupta, S (2007) ‘1857 and Ideas About Nationhood in Bengal: Nuances and Themes’. Economic and Political Weekly, 42 (19), 1762–1769. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4419582.

  24. 24.

    Krishan, K (2017) Visions of Empire: How Five Imperial Regimes Shaped the World. Princeton University Press, p. 314.

Bibliography

  • Beckles, H (2016) The First Black Slave Society. Kingston, Jamaica: University of West Indies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, ME (2010) The Scramble for Africa, 3rd edition. Abingdon, UK: Pearson Educated Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dee, J (1570) ‘Brytannicae Reipublicae Synopsis’. In The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee, and the Catalogue of His Library of Manuscripts: From the Original Manuscripts in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, and Trinity College Library. Cambridge and London: Camden Society 1842.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dening, G (1980) Islands and Beaches. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Draper, N (2008) ‘The City of London and Slavery: Evidence from the First Dock Companies 1795–1800’. Economic History Review, 61 (May, 2), 432–466.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edmond, R & Smith, V (eds.) (2003) Islands in History and Representation. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freedgood, E (2012) ‘Islands of Whiteness’. Victorian Studies, 54 (2), 298–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillis, JR (2003) ‘Taking History Offshore: Atlantic Islands in European Minds 1400–1800’. Economic and Political Weekly, 42 (19), 1762–1769.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, S (2007) ‘1857 and Ideas About Nationhood in Bengal: Nuances and Themes’. Economic and Political Weekly, 42 (19), 1762–1769.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krishan, K (2017) Visions of Empire: How Five Imperial Regimes Shaped the World. Woodstock: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowenthal, D (2007) ‘Islands, Lovers, and Others’. Geographical Review, 97 (2), 202–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, C (1997) The Racial Contract. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murdoch, H. 2009. ‘A Legacy of Trauma: Caribbean Slavery, Race, Class, and Contemporary Identity in “Abeng”’. Research in African Literatures, 40 (4), 65–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olusoga, D (2015) ‘The History of British Slave Ownership Has Been Buried: Now Its Scale Can Be Revealed’. The Guardian, July 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reisman, MW (1983) ‘The Struggle for the Falklands’. Faculty Scholarship Series. Paper 726. Yale Law School.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riquet, J (2014) The Aesthetics of Island Space: Perception, Ideology, Geopoetics. Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Arts, University of Zurich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sipress, J (1997) ‘Relearning Race: Teaching Race as a Cultural Construction’. The History Teacher, 30 (2), 175–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swingen, AL (2015) ‘Unfree Labour and the Origins of Empire’. In Labour, Slavery, and the Origins of the British Atlantic Empire. London: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walvin, J (2007) A Short History of Slavery. London: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Culture, Media & Creative Industries, King’s College London, London, UK

    Kate McMillan

Authors
  1. Kate McMillan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kate McMillan .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

McMillan, K. (2019). Islands of Empire: Geographies of Forgetting. In: Contemporary Art and Unforgetting in Colonial Landscapes. Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17290-9_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation