How images of islands shaped colonial policies
Perceptions of small islands by early explorers and colonial authorities, which still persist as tourism cliches, could have helped to shape past policies towards island states.
Ms Kothari addressing the audience at the lecture
This is the view of historians Uma Kothari and Rorden Wilkinson from the University of Manchester, UK, whose lecture at the National Cultural Centre this week – titled Imagining small island states: exiles, beaches and bases – drew a good audience.
Both have travelled to Seychelles, Mauritius and Maldives several times.
Ms Kothari said when they were discovered, islands like Seychelles were described as “isolated and unpopulated”.
This was undoubtedly decisive in the islands becoming provisioning outposts for European ships crossing the Indian Ocean, she added.
Europe soon became flooded with accounts of the Indian Ocean islands.
Adventure stories such as Robinson Crusoe, and later The Coral Island and Treasure Island, were shaped by accounts of discoveries.
This, said Ms Kothari, led to the setting-up of Kew Gardens in the UK, replicating what the exotic islands were supposed to produce.
She stressed that the dominant impression was that the islands constituted “a desolate and deserted earthly paradise”.
She said some these images, notably of “Seychelles as an unspoilt tranquil paradise”, often appear in tourism brochures today.
Such perceptions were also conveyed by writers who had lived in Seychelles for some time. Thus Marianne North, in her book Vision of Eden wrote about “boats plying between the islands, full of dried fish and natives”. Or “natives too lazy to pick nutmeg and cinnamon”.
Because they were remote, the islands were found to be ideal places for the incarceration of anti-British agitators, Ms Kothari said. So between 1800 and 1956, Seychelles became a dumping ground for some 400 people who had challenged British rule in their own countries, notably Ghana, Malaysia and Cyprus.
Professor Wilkinson said the history of Seychelles published so far is lacking in certain aspects. For instance, there is no account of slave resistance; Seychelles is also presented as a passive player in big power rivalry.
And he said there are hardly any accounts of the day-to-day lives of the Seychellois.
Some of the views expressed by the two lecturers were disputed by some attending, including Minister for Culture and Social Development Bernard Shamlaye.
He noted that Seychellois have not always been passive but in many ways sought to make their own way .
He gave the status of the Creole language and cuisine as examples where Seychellois have clearly shown they are proud of their culture.
Mr Shamlaye also said Seychellois are at the forefront of the fight against Somali pirates and have mounted more successful operations than some big Western powers.
Source: NATION 2-26-11