Atdtda [4]: Useful bases, 107-108

[Joseph T]

On Mar 12, 2007, at 12:56 PM, Joseph T wrote:

> I agree with Paul on this and wonder if there is also a  
> contemporary reference to the imminent disappearance of many  
> islands due to global warming and the implied forgettability of far  
> away places and times, and the implicit sense that it only exists  
> if it exists on our maps (tv,  radio, newspapers) the only thing in  
> danger of disappearing , of course, being us and our world.
>


> On Mar 11, 2007, at 12:00 PM, Paul Nightingale wrote:
>
>> The new chapter concludes the first part of the novel; and we are  
>> back with
>> the Chums. However, the optimism and excitement of the opening  
>> pages is
>> nowhere in evidence "in this era of desuetude": the Chums repeat old
>> 'customs' (or duties, "midwatch") in the hope, perhaps, that this  
>> will
>> conjure up activity. Cue the boy from "an old painting". The  
>> opening chapter
>> saw them on their way to Chicago and the naming of progress that  
>> was the
>> exhibition; and the current chapter does something similar, the named
>> islands a reference to exploration and colonialism.
>>
>> Flying "scant dozens of feet above" sea level, the Chums can see  
>> what would
>> be unidentifiable from a greater altitude. Naming is to bring into  
>> existence
>> something that the name in question will correspond to. Hence, "no  
>> longer
>> named, one by one the islets vanished from the nautical  
>> charts ..." (108).
>> If indeed they are "unpopulated, without vegetation" (107) the act  
>> of naming
>> signifies the power to do so by the colonial powers, which in turn  
>> implies
>> the usefulness of such outposts to those power.
>>
>> Reading these pages reminds us of other Indian Ocean islands that  
>> have been
>> in the news these past years: the Chagos Islands.
>>
>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2005984,00.html
>> http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=351
>>
>>
>>
>

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