A man and his island: The island mirror in Michael Crummey’s Sweetland

Between 1946 and 1975, dozens of islands and outports in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador were abandoned as part of a government resettlement policy. Families and communities were torn apart, and a culture and way of life that revolved around the fishery changed irrevocably. The pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Laurie Brinklow
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Island Studies Journal 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/20089c7666f1413cb68b16e564d5b15a
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:20089c7666f1413cb68b16e564d5b15a 2023-05-15T17:21:34+02:00 A man and his island: The island mirror in Michael Crummey’s Sweetland Laurie Brinklow 2016-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/20089c7666f1413cb68b16e564d5b15a EN eng Island Studies Journal http://www.islandstudies.ca/sites/islandstudies.ca/files/ISJ-11-1-H-Brinklow.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1715-2593 1715-2593 https://doaj.org/article/20089c7666f1413cb68b16e564d5b15a Island Studies Journal, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 133-144 (2016) island identity islandness Michael Crummey Newfoundland resettlement Sweetland Physical geography GB3-5030 article 2016 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-31T16:15:17Z Between 1946 and 1975, dozens of islands and outports in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador were abandoned as part of a government resettlement policy. Families and communities were torn apart, and a culture and way of life that revolved around the fishery changed irrevocably. The practice, which continues to this day, has been well documented, particularly by artists and writers. Michael Crummey’s 2014 novel Sweetland is a recent iteration. The relationship between humans and place is complex: on an island, with compressed space and a very real boundary that is the ocean, emotional attachments to one’s place are often heightened and distilled. What happens when a person is displaced from his or her island; when bonds of attachment are severed and one’s mirrored double is destroyed? Sweetland offers a fictional lens through which we see an example of a mirrored relationship between an island protagonist and his island setting. Exploring themes of attachment to place, and what Barry Lopez calls a “storied” or “reciprocal” relationship with the land, this paper examines what happens to a man when confronted with leaving an island he knows as deeply as his own body and soul; and how the island reacts. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Newfoundland Lopez ENVELOPE(-63.567,-63.567,-64.850,-64.850)
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic island identity
islandness
Michael Crummey
Newfoundland
resettlement
Sweetland
Physical geography
GB3-5030
spellingShingle island identity
islandness
Michael Crummey
Newfoundland
resettlement
Sweetland
Physical geography
GB3-5030
Laurie Brinklow
A man and his island: The island mirror in Michael Crummey’s Sweetland
topic_facet island identity
islandness
Michael Crummey
Newfoundland
resettlement
Sweetland
Physical geography
GB3-5030
description Between 1946 and 1975, dozens of islands and outports in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador were abandoned as part of a government resettlement policy. Families and communities were torn apart, and a culture and way of life that revolved around the fishery changed irrevocably. The practice, which continues to this day, has been well documented, particularly by artists and writers. Michael Crummey’s 2014 novel Sweetland is a recent iteration. The relationship between humans and place is complex: on an island, with compressed space and a very real boundary that is the ocean, emotional attachments to one’s place are often heightened and distilled. What happens when a person is displaced from his or her island; when bonds of attachment are severed and one’s mirrored double is destroyed? Sweetland offers a fictional lens through which we see an example of a mirrored relationship between an island protagonist and his island setting. Exploring themes of attachment to place, and what Barry Lopez calls a “storied” or “reciprocal” relationship with the land, this paper examines what happens to a man when confronted with leaving an island he knows as deeply as his own body and soul; and how the island reacts.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Laurie Brinklow
author_facet Laurie Brinklow
author_sort Laurie Brinklow
title A man and his island: The island mirror in Michael Crummey’s Sweetland
title_short A man and his island: The island mirror in Michael Crummey’s Sweetland
title_full A man and his island: The island mirror in Michael Crummey’s Sweetland
title_fullStr A man and his island: The island mirror in Michael Crummey’s Sweetland
title_full_unstemmed A man and his island: The island mirror in Michael Crummey’s Sweetland
title_sort man and his island: the island mirror in michael crummey’s sweetland
publisher Island Studies Journal
publishDate 2016
url https://doaj.org/article/20089c7666f1413cb68b16e564d5b15a
long_lat ENVELOPE(-63.567,-63.567,-64.850,-64.850)
geographic Newfoundland
Lopez
geographic_facet Newfoundland
Lopez
genre Newfoundland
genre_facet Newfoundland
op_source Island Studies Journal, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 133-144 (2016)
op_relation http://www.islandstudies.ca/sites/islandstudies.ca/files/ISJ-11-1-H-Brinklow.pdf
https://doaj.org/toc/1715-2593
1715-2593
https://doaj.org/article/20089c7666f1413cb68b16e564d5b15a
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