(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2007) Storment, Ryan Lee; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert Bennett
Islands periodically reappear and manifest themselves within our cultural texts as locations for fantasy and the exotic. On the surface they are often remote locations that simply serve as interchangeable backgrounds, but their reoccurrence is usually due to their unique ability to be molded. They are served up as blank slates, much like early visions of the western United States, where we meet the Other or encounter exotic voices. Because of this, islands are perceived as spaces with no Western historical narrative or structure so it becomes simply to move Western structures and complex issues to them to allow for more focused discussions. Michael Foucault, Philip Fisher, Gilles Deleuze, and Felix Guatarri's discussions about space help us to see the structures that have been placed on these islands and allow a greater understanding of issues placed there.
