Macaronesia

Abstract

This essay undertakes a multifaceted exploration of the name 'Macaronesia'. Particularly focused on decoding the geological dimensions of some of the identity-forming processes at the macro-archipelago level, the essay nonetheless refrains from definitively answering the question "what is Macaronesia?". The analysis begins by exploring the ways in which the noun acts in the formulation of forms of belonging at the geo-local level, questioning its origins and applicability, drawing on Island and Archipelagic Studies to understand it. It also recognizes the existence of foundational geological conditions that shape the sense of place the name geo-localizes. Finally, it reflects on two divergent geological identities that underpin two historiographical directions: the first endogenous, resulting from a relationship with the use of land, and the second exogenous, imperial, and exoticizing, constructed around the sense of isolation that the oceanic distance of the territories from the continent suggests.

Keywords

• Macaronesia
• island studies
• archipelagity
• geosocial
• Atlantic history