“Fighting for the Rock at Home and Abroad": Barbuda Voice Newspaper as a Transnational Space

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

Publication Title

Historical Geography

ISSN

2331-7523

Abstract

One of the basic tenets of transnational-migration scholarship centers on the role of rapid communication in facilitating greater connections between migrants to their home communities. Utilizing the concept of transnational space, I will illustrate through a case study how islanders from Barbuda maintained complex connections to home, particularly in terms of their unique land tenure, through a monthly transnational newspaper edited by a New York Barbudan Russell John. Employing a careful analysis of the first five years of its publication, my study will provide alternative understandings of the ways in which Barbudans historically maintained quite intricate connections to home through slower forms of communication. This study sheds light on communication prior to the ready availability of the telephone on the island. Concentrating on a single newspaper published in the New York City, I show how it facilitated involvement from Barbuda’s transnational population to the island home, creating a powerful transnational space of connection.

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