Using Islander Stories to Discuss Sea-Level Rise
"Pin on a Map - Atlas" by ayc_travel_photos is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
By Lauren Hodges
A recent radio episode on Hawaii Public Radio interviews Christina Gerhardt, Associate Professor and Founder of the Humanities Initiative at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, about her new book titled Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean.
The book, published by the University of California Press in May 2023, uses various media, including essays, maps, and art, to place islands in a warming world. Gerhardt centers her discussion around the creation of atlases and the need to redraw them as islands are engulfed by rising oceans. The goal of the book, Gerhardt says, is to bring life on the islands, and the concerns islanders are facing, to people who are living on continents through an islander’s perspective.
Gerhardt’s multidisciplinary book includes environmental studies and environmental humanities, geography and cartography, and creative nonfiction and islanders’ poetry, creating impactful and engaging portrayals of rising oceans and life on islands in the wake of these changes.
"Housing on fakaofo atoll tokelau 2007 tokelaus low lying atolls are susceptible to rising sea levels photo new zealand ministry of foreign affairs and trade" by New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Using maps and narratives to connect audiences to the worldwide issue of sea level rise, Gerhardt’s work is an exceptional example of narrative empathy. Sea level rise and its gradual impact on island communities is also a powerful case of slow violence, another key theme in the Arithmetic of Compassion.
It’s easy to feel detached from issues like sea level rise when we aren’t seeing a direct impact and the effects are slow. Gerhardt challenges this inherent response to sea level rise by bringing the issue to continental readers and using islander stories to bring it to life.