Typical islands, borrowed islands: Epistemological and intellectual decolonialization in island studies

Abstract

In the emerging scene of non-western island studies, research done on the sinophone world mainly (but not exclusively) by sinophone scholars has become a conspicuous strand in the literature. Despite the diverse locations in focus, most research tends to functionally apply rather than organically engage with west-inflected island theories. Starting from this premise, I embark on a series of critical reflections on the multilayered and intersecting subjectivities of the non-western island researcher and the related challenges in the context of epistemological decolonialization by analyzing two symptomatic narrative vignettes abstracted from my own research experiences in local island and archipelagic areas in China. Specifically, I argue that in the face of intersecting structures and conflicting forces, the non-western island researcher is both stranded and enabled by a series of in-between conditions in which epistemological innovation is difficult, but still possible if pursued through relentless interrogation of one’s own vested interest and constant realignment of positionality. In the end, I propose three ethical-epistemological traps for non-western scholars practicing island research under the shadow of western intellectual hegemony.