The Affective Mediascapes of Chinese Island Abandonment

Abstract

Islands have long been alluring to sojourners from outside, especially when they are, or are assumed to have been, abandoned. The island lure becomes more powerful when the abandonment is represented in the media in ways that evoke compelling affective responses. Against this background, I intend to critically examine the affective mediascapes of abandoned islands by focusing on three Chinese examples. I argue that it is necessary and possible to de-affect the media lure of abandoned islands in a place-specific way and probe for alternative affective responses in relation to one or several dominant affects in a given context.