Nanyo-Orientalism: Japanese Representations of the Pacific By Nao ...

Chapter 1

Japanese Colonial
Representations
of the “South Island”

Textual Hybridity,
Transracial Love Plots,
and Postcolonial Consciousness¹

The “South Island” in Japanese Culture

For the Japanese, the south island has been a place to project their colonial anxiety and desires—a space secluded from political strife, civilization, and history. The comic story “Boken Dankichi” (“Dankichi the adventurous”) is a case-in-point of such representations. The author, Shimada Keizo, depicts in