Article ; Online: Anywhere but here
Island Studies Journal, Vol 15, Iss 1, Pp 205-
Experiences of islandness in Pearl River Delta island tourism
2020 Volume 222
Abstract: This study considers the phenomenology of ‘islandness’ by analysing the experiences of tourists, islanders, and migrant tourism workers on two Chinese islands in the South China Sea. Although we begin by presuming place to be a phenomenological concept ... ...
| Abstract | This study considers the phenomenology of ‘islandness’ by analysing the experiences of tourists, islanders, and migrant tourism workers on two Chinese islands in the South China Sea. Although we begin by presuming place to be a phenomenological concept centring on ‘being-in-the-world’, we find that people’s experiences both on and off the islands of Dong’ao and Wailingding engender a desire to ‘be-in-many-worlds’ at once. Findings drawn from three months of ethnographic fieldwork suggest that while tourists privilege ‘being-at-the-seaside’, long-term residents prioritize being both ‘on’ and ‘off’ the island. Meanwhile, migrant tourism workers’ sense of islandness emerges from ‘being-at-the- seaside’ and ‘being-on-the-island’. In all cases, we find that islands challenge people’s desires to dwell in just one specific place to which they have an attachment. We argue that this liminal place attachment arises partly because the physical geography ofislands, being surrounded by the sea, facilitates movement and may prompt a longing for elsewhere. Our findings have consequences for the phenomenology of place, which assumes that people have an innate desire to be somewhere. Yet thinking through and from islands shows that people equally wish to be somewhere else, too. The manifold human experiences of islandness underscore the need for a more relational phenomenology of place based not just on ‘being-in-the-world’, but rather ‘in-many-worlds’ at once. |
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| Keywords | china ; experience ; islands ; island tourism ; islandness ; pearl river delta ; phenomenology ; Physical geography ; GB3-5030 |
| Subject code | 910 |
| Language | English |
| Publishing date | 2020-05-01T00:00:00Z |
| Publisher | Island Studies Journal |
| Document type | Article ; Online |
| Database | BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection) |
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