Saturday, April 23, 2011

Zones / 'i' lands

Island Continent: oceans bordering Australia ~ Indian Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean, Pacific Ocean

Uninhabited Islands~ http://www.lifewithinme.com/2010/08/lost-cast-away-ten-amazing-uninhabited-islands/

The average height above sea level in the Maldives is only 5 feet (1.5 meters) with the highest point rising a mere 7 feet 7 inches (2.3 meters).

The history of Australia as an island

Dad was always fascinated by islands too, tropical islands, uninhabited, no doubt the result of a Robinson Cruso seed planted in his childhood, or dreams of escaping the drudgery of farm life.

The first time I read out loud in front of the class, I pronounced 'island', this unfamiliar word that embodied my nation state, as 'is land' and was made feel small. The sight of the word 'island' has been both a fascination and a reminder of the raw truth self-knowledge ever since. This awkward word represents 'home' to me, but the homecoming, back to Self, like the memory of that Grade Three day, is raw and essential - anticipated, but also avoided for its mixture of pleasure and pain.

Zones = Nation (taking away the Romantic notions attached to the 'nationalistic' nation

Szeman, Imre. Zones of Instability: Literature, Postcolonialism, and the Nation, The Johns Hopkins University Press December 30, 2003

Neither nationalist or patriotic, but 'island' is both 'I' and 'home'. To Patrick White Uluru was 'our red heart'. 'Island' is heart, not place - unreachable, un-returnable, unrecoverable, it is a time, liminal space in life, a memory, an 'Avalon'.

a skirted coastline, rock pools on Sunday afternoon, flounder hunting in estuaries by underwater battery-powered light on barmy summer and sometimes freezing spring nights. Dad and I the hunters, Mum drove the car and stayed alone while I wondered and wandered, pondering the primordial shallow waters and sand drifts.

then they took me to the drivein ... we saw Island of the Blue Dolphin and I had nightmares for 4 years, afflicted not by the plight of poor girl, but poor dogs

Life on islands leaves you free, and your foibles become unique