Essay from the year 2004 in the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: Distinction, James Cook University (James Cook University), course: Strangers in the South Pacific, language: English, comment: Marker's comment: Excellent survey and very well researched., abstract: The tradition of island imaginings in European thought existed long before explorers were actually able to reach far away islands and give first-hand accounts of their encounters and observations. Myths of islands are of an extreme age and deeply rooted in European culture, where they were subjected to ongoing transformation by writers of various periods in history. Story telling about islands stretches back thousands of years: from early island myths in antiquity, to explorers, poets and philosophers in the Age of Discovery; from idealizing nature and islanders, to islands that acted as vehicles for social criticism and reflection on social conditions in Europe. The island setting was originally employed as a site and inspiration for spiritual, emotional, or psychological transformation, as a kind of incubator for the initiation and fostering of an individual's growth. The specific workings of the archetypal place as an agent of change involved a morally challenging confrontation in a magical setting. Appropriate conduct and prudent behaviour opposite the unfamiliar, followed by the resolve of a potentially dangerous situation or conflict, enabled the shipwrecked to finally leave the island and return to their respective societies. This essay provides a historical overview of the island tradition in European literature and links it specifically to the islands of the imagination where the writer travels behind or in front of his or her time envisaging a better world - utopias often take the form of a subversive analysis of contemporary society. Islands and island dwellers were often envisaged as superior versions of the countries and peoples who imagined them, an idea that survived and

Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More published in 1516 in Latin. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. Many aspects of More's description of Utopia are reminiscent of life in monasteries.

In Enchanted Islands, renowned art historian Mary D. Sheriff explores the legendary, fictional, and real islands that filled the French imagination during the ancien regime as they appeared in royal ballets and festivals, epic literature, paintings, engravings, book illustrations, and other objects. Some of the islands were mythical and found in the most popular literary texts of the day—islands featured prominently, for instance, in Ariosto’s Orlando furioso,Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata, and Fénelon’s, Telemachus. Other islands—real ones, such as Tahiti and St. Domingue—the French learned about from the writings of travelers and colonists. All of them were imagined to be the home of enchantresses who used magic to conquer heroes by promising sensual and sexual pleasure. As Sheriff shows, the theme of the enchanted island was put to many uses. Kings deployed enchanted-island mythology to strengthen monarchical authority, as Louis XIV did in his famous Versailles festival Les Plaisirs de l’île enchantée. Writers such as Fénelon used it to tell morality tales that taught virtue, duty, and the need for male strength to triumph over female weakness and seduction. Yet at the same time, artists like Boucher painted enchanted islands to portray art’s purpose as the giving of pleasure. In all these ways and more, Sheriff demonstrates for the first time the centrality of enchanted islands to ancient regime culture in a book that will enchant all readers interested in the art, literature, and history of the time.

In the tradition of his books On Beauty and On Ugliness and The Infinity of Lists, Umberto Eco presents an enthralling illustrated tour of the fabled places that have awed and eluded us through the ages. "Eco is one of the most influential thinkers of our time" Los Angeles Times From the epic poems of Homer to contemporary science fiction, from the Holy Scriptures to modern mythology and fairy tale, literature and art are full of illusory places we have at some time believed are real, and onto which we have projected our dreams, ideals and fears. Umberto Eco leads us on an illuminating journey through these legendary lands - Atlantis, Thule and Hyperborea, the Earth's interior and the Land of Cockaigne - and explores utopias and dystopias where our imagination can confront concepts that are too incredible, or too challenging, for our limited real world. In The Book of Legendary Lands the author's text is accompanied by several hundred carefully assembled works of art and literature; the result is a beautifully illustrated volume with broad and enduring appeal. Translated from Italian by Alastair McEwen

Tired of Cold War political analysis about post-Cold War events, zero-sum game theories, and world history as only one war after another? Disobedient Histories in Ancient and Modern Times: Regionalism, Governance, War and Peace breaks tradition by considering some alternative Western and non-Western international relations theories found in historical, anthropological, literary, archaeological, genetic and physical evidence from some ancient and modern societies in Europe, Africa and Asia. Chapters in this comparative history book explore the deep backstory of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the Association for Southeast Asian Nations, Scandinavian Progressivism in international development, Welsh cultural preservation, North African feminism and political traditions in Tunisia, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Other chapters explore the backstory of ideas leading to the rise of the ultranationalist National Front political party and the Charlie Hebdo magazine attack in France and also the zombie economics behind Boko Haram in Nigeria. The international relations theories in these disobedient histories suggest that the global peace, prosperity and dignity present in the United Nations Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals are viable.

A book of natural wonders, practical guidance and life-changing empowerment, by the author of the word-of-mouth bestseller If Women Rose Rooted. 'To live an enchanted life is to pick up the pieces of our bruised and battered psyches, and to offer them the nourishment they long for. It is to be challenged, to be awakened, to be gripped and shaken to the core by the extraordinary which lies at the heart of the ordinary. Above all, to live an enchanted life is to fall in love with the world all over again.' The enchanted life has nothing to do with escapism or magical thinking: it is founded on a vivid sense of belonging to a rich and many-layered world. It is creative, intuitive, imaginative. It thrives on work that has heart and meaning. It loves wild things, but returns to an enchanted home and garden. It respects the instinctive knowledge, ethical living and playfulness, and relishes story and art. Taking the inspiration and wisdom that can be derived from myth, fairy tales and folk culture, this book offers a set of practical and grounded tools for reclaiming enchantment in our lives, giving us a greater sense of meaning and of belonging to the world.