Fears, Frontiers, and Third Spaces: Rethinking Colonial Encounters in the Early Modern British Atlantic

Summary

The concept of the frontier is often understood to be by definition one sided- one group’s frontier is of course another’s homeland. The idea of the frontier is thus the sign of a failed imagination; a mote in the eye blocking perspective. But the notion of a frontier can also convey liminality and lawlessness, a place apart from rules and regulations, laws and orders. If there is any truth in this construction, then frontiers might also be understood as third spaces. In this paper I will consider the utility of the concept of the frontier as a third space, with a particular focus upon violence as culturally meaningful and a key element in the emergence of colonial identities in the early modern British Atlantic.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017   •
• Advancing Frontiers in the 21st century: Reconsidering Colonial Encounters in the Atlantic World

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 462