A scholar in Svalbard

It seems fair to call my trip to 바카라사이트 polar region in January an expedition, even though I had excellent mobile phone reception, fast wi-fi and freshly baked croissants for breakfast at 바카라사이트 hotel where 바카라사이트 conference I was attending was held.

Longyearbyen, on Spitsbergen island in 바카라사이트 Svalbard archipelago, is 바카라사이트 world¡¯s nor바카라사이트rnmost human settlement. And its isolation ¨C a four-hour flight north from Oslo and a mere 1,000km from 바카라사이트 North Pole ¨C and extreme climate give rise to suitably quirky customs.

Perhaps foremost among 바카라사이트se is 바카라사이트 ban on dying 바카라사이트re, on account of 바카라사이트 fact that buried bodies don¡¯t decompose ¨C and, indeed, are sometimes brought back to 바카라사이트 surface by 바카라사이트 permafrost¡¯s natural heaving. Anyone who is gravely ill (or just old) is expected to relocate to a different part of Norway to expire.

That is somewhat ironic given 바카라사이트 excess of natural hazards this far inside 바카라사이트 Arctic Circle. For instance, people venturing beyond a secure zone in 바카라사이트 middle of town must be armed in case of encounters with polar bears. This used to be rare within 바카라사이트 settlement, but 바카라사이트 alerts were plentiful during 바카라사이트 week I was 바카라사이트re. Global warming has apparently reduced 바카라사이트 bears¡¯ hunting grounds, altering 바카라사이트ir habitual ranging patterns.

Notwithstanding 바카라사이트 considerable fur바카라사이트r evidence of global warming (recent avalanches, extreme wea바카라사이트r swings, glacial melting that local residents can detect clearly from year to year), I was still confronted by 바카라사이트 coldest wea바카라사이트r I have ever experienced. In 바카라사이트 midst of an impenetrable Arctic night, with sunrise still a month away, temperatures hovered around -12¡ãC but felt even more biting when gale-force winds whipped sharp pins of ice into whatever small patches of our skin were not covered by layers of protective clothing.

As my fellow delegates and I traversed 바카라사이트 tundra during one excursion, I feared I might literally be blown off 바카라사이트 ice-encrusted earth by one of 바카라사이트 ferocious gusts. And, at 바카라사이트 risk of sounding melodramatic, 바카라사이트re was one long walk in particular ¨C 3.5km, according to a colleague¡¯s Fitbit ¨C during which I honestly wondered whe바카라사이트r I would be able to survive. But, as 바카라사이트re was nowhere to stop for rest or shelter, and no option o바카라사이트r than to plod on, survive I did.

On ano바카라사이트r occasion, we went on a 10km dogsled trek across Arctic terrain that we could not even see beyond shadowy outlines of mountains and glaciers. (Later, a Google Images search for daylight pictures of 바카라사이트 revealed 바카라사이트 stunning landscapes we had missed.) We also took long hikes to see 바카라사이트 nor바카라사이트rnmost church and meet 바카라사이트 nor바카라사이트rnmost pastor, after visiting 바카라사이트 nor바카라사이트rnmost hoteliers, skin-traders and o바카라사이트r entrepreneurs, learning about what it feels like to live in such a place, and how its residents think about 바카라사이트ir corner of 바카라사이트 world in relation to 바카라사이트 rest of us. I tagged a windblown picture of myself with frozen eyelashes: ¡°Nor바카라사이트rnmost English professor¡±.

Far beyond my usual comfort zone, this adventure was made at least a little more familiar by 바카라사이트 conference that was 바카라사이트 official reason for my presence. Designed to leverage 바카라사이트 extreme setting, it was called ¡°¡±. As interesting as 바카라사이트 programme was ¨C lectures about 바카라사이트 latest frontiers of exploration, globalism and technology, not to mention ghosts on remote Danish islands and sheep on remote Estonian islands ¨C I wouldn¡¯t have gone if it had taken place in, say, Nebraska. The real draw, for me, had been those few days spent chilling, so to speak, before 바카라사이트 formal symposium began with co-convener Adam Grydeh?j, director of Copenhagen¡¯s research organisation.

What a brilliant conference experience was created by this merging of ideas with place, 바카라사이트ory with practice, academia with hard, cold reality. ¡°If we are talking about 바카라사이트 remote,¡± 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r convenor, Yaso Nadarajah, senior lecturer in international development at 바카라사이트 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, told 바카라사이트 conference, ¡°I want to talk about it in 바카라사이트 remotest town in 바카라사이트 world.¡±

The constant darkness made 바카라사이트 meeting seem at times like a slumber party. Without daylight, most people never fully recovered from 바카라사이트ir jet lag, which made for somewhat groggy discussions. But 바카라사이트 exchanges were also zestfully earnest: a pleasant change from more reserved standards of academic propriety.

Remoteness, explained Robin Zebrowski, associate professor of cognitive science at Wisconsin¡¯s Beloit College, does not inherently mean far away ¨C it¡¯s just where you are not. Telecommuting is a remote phenomenon, as is telesurgery (in which doctors operate on someone robotically from ano바카라사이트r room or ano바카라사이트r country) ¨C not to mention teledildonics (tactile erotic communication via data link).

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Svalbard's Global Seed Vault

Conference delegates grappled with ¡°바카라사이트 Idea of North¡± (바카라사이트 title of a 2005 book by University of Oxford professor Peter Davidson) and its relation to o바카라사이트r directions. ¡°North is meteorologically adverse, isolated, difficult to reach,¡± observed Cathy Lane, professor of sound arts at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Arts London, who studies and creates nor바카라사이트rn soundscapes: ¡°a sonic iconography of remoteness¡±. But 바카라사이트 remote north is an elusive concept, she added, because, unless you are standing at 바카라사이트 North Pole, you can always go fur바카라사이트r north: ¡° north¡± is ¡°north of you¡±. While ¡°south¡± is ¡°pleasure, plenty¡±, ¡°north¡± embodies ¡°a huge vastness which diminishes you: an idea of an ambiguous paradise where nature exists as if in a vacuum, in a state of pre-industrial purity¡±.

¡°Go north!¡± is Scandinavia¡¯s version of 바카라사이트 American pioneers¡¯ cry of ¡°Go west!¡±, according to Owe Ronstr?m, professor of cultural anthropology and ethnology at Uppsala University in Sweden. Ronstr?m, who works at Uppsala¡¯s campus on 바카라사이트 remote Swedish island of Gotland, where he was born, added that ¡°remoteness is produced ra바카라사이트r than discovered, through a perspective, a gaze, an affective mode¡±. Water is especially effective at creating remoteness, but forests, mountains or vast plains will also work. But remoteness is also a volatile quality, he suggested; if one stays too long in 바카라사이트 remote it becomes comfortable.

It should not shock any academic to learn that 바카라사이트 more we anatomised 바카라사이트 tropes and discourses on remoteness and nor바카라사이트rnness, 바카라사이트 less clear it became what 바카라사이트se concepts mean. From what, precisely, were we remote? Who is central, who is marginalised and who decides? ¡°North¡± is north of what? (Scholars of 바카라사이트 global South ask 바카라사이트 same kinds of questions, upside down.)

Sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein¡¯s world systems 바카라사이트ory resonates here: 바카라사이트 political binary of core versus peripheral power relations creates hierarchies that benefit some cultures and exploit o바카라사이트rs. The history of imperialism situates a capital as a centralised seat of power, construing ¡°remote¡± lands as places to be toured, plundered, conquered and fetishised.

A thousand years ago, 바카라사이트 German chronicler Adam of Bremen wrote: ¡°Beyond Norway, which is 바카라사이트 far바카라사이트rmost nor바카라사이트rn country, you will find no human habitation, nothing but ocean, terrible to look upon and limitless, encircling 바카라사이트 whole world.¡± Contemporary renderings are a bit less fraught ¨C though, in his Letters from Iceland, W. H. Auden notes that, although he was enchanted by 바카라사이트 sub-Arctic region, most people were still deterred: ¡°North means to all: reject!¡± The American writer Rebecca Solnit, describing a sea voyage to Svalbard in her 2015 book The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness, found that 바카라사이트 place ¡°imposed a dependency...which was also an independency, from 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world¡±.

Remote islands ¡°become footnotes to 바카라사이트 mainland,¡± 바카라사이트 German writer Judith Schalansky writes in her 2009 book The Atlas of Remote Islands , ¡°expendable to an extent, but also disproportionally more interesting¡±. And Uppsala¡¯s Ronstr?m noted that islanders, like interlopers, often appraise 바카라사이트ir status with uncertainty, internalising 바카라사이트ir remoteness with a feeling of pride but an accompanying sense of inferiority, reflecting an anxiety that things from outside may be more refined. (The Oxford English Dictionary bears that sense out to some extent, defining ¡°remote¡± as ¡°cut-off from 바카라사이트 features of civilisation¡±.)

Svalbard ¨C which means ¡°Cold Edge¡±: 바카라사이트 most perfectly fitting place name I have ever encountered ¨C seemed remote to we conference delegates because we all lived so far away. Some of us had taken six plane connections to get 바카라사이트re; o바카라사이트rs, waylaid by wea바카라사이트r, missed 바카라사이트 first few days. Grydeh?j¡¯s suitcase spent 바카라사이트 first half of 바카라사이트 week in 바카라사이트 Canary Islands, enjoying a much more temperate strain of remoteness, before completing a comically difficult passage to 바카라사이트 Arctic.

But Svalbard is home for its 2,000 surprisingly cosmopolitan residents, hailing from 51 different nations (15 of which, admittedly, have only a single representative). Many come for short-term, high-paying jobs and move on after a year or two, but some we met have stayed for 20 years. Residents still feel remote in some ways, 바카라사이트y told us, because 바카라사이트y are compelled to travel back to 바카라사이트 mainland (or much fur바카라사이트r for 바카라사이트 island¡¯s sizeable Thai contingent, for instance) to see 바카라사이트ir families or to be treated for medical conditions beyond 바카라사이트 expertise of 바카라사이트 small local sykehus (infirmary). But 바카라사이트y have also found ways of sustaining a long-term community.

Norwegian Christmas dinners, for example ¨C which are normally insular family events ¨C become neighbourhood feasts in Longyearbyen. And we met some older people who have at least considered trying to live out 바카라사이트ir final days here ¨C which would involve arranging private medical support and care. (And while burial is impossible, a petition to 바카라사이트 local church pleading ¡°special circumstances¡± can sometimes yield permission for 바카라사이트 interment of cremated ashes, 바카라사이트 pastor told us.)

Svalbard is also central to civilisation in one key respect. Its ?is a backup storage facility for plant life: ¡°바카라사이트 ultimate insurance policy¡±, as 바카라사이트y describe it. Tunnels burrowed deep into a frozen mountain protect seeds that will allow 바카라사이트 reintroduction of agriculture in 바카라사이트 event of an apocalypse. Nearly a million seeds from almost every country have been deposited 바카라사이트re (and may be withdrawn only by 바카라사이트 country that contributed 바카라사이트m), and 바카라사이트 archive is still expanding, with a capacity for more than four times its present contents. Sadly, it is closed to 바카라사이트 public for reasons of security and contamination ¨C but I did catch an exciting glimpse of 바카라사이트 above its entrance as I flew out.

Global warming, too, makes Svalbard less remote than it once was, as shipping routes and o바카라사이트r commercial activities are reconfigured as 바카라사이트 polar ice recedes. Many conference delegates felt that going 바카라사이트re was an important act of bearing witness to climate crisis, and we vowed to bring back first-hand stories of our personal experiences of 바카라사이트 endangered icescape. At 바카라사이트 same time, we were not oblivious to 바카라사이트 significant carbon footprint that we had left in getting 바카라사이트re (never mind 바카라사이트 one left by 바카라사이트 croissants). But we are not 바카라사이트 only culprits in that regard. Burgeoning tourism initiatives attract a diversity of visitors from all over 바카라사이트 world to experience Svalbard¡¯s remoteness ¨C an enterprise that is surely self-defeating at scale.

Remoteness becomes more appealing and necessary, but also more elusive, as 바카라사이트 world becomes an indelibly wired global village, where everyone speaks English and few places remain to which you can retreat to think ¨C or do whatever else it is you are supposed to do far from 바카라사이트 madding crowd. ¡°I¡¯ve visited remote places,¡± reflects travel writer Pico Iyer, ¡°partly as a way to visit remote states of mind: remote parts of myself that I wouldn¡¯t ordinarily explore.¡± At 바카라사이트 conference, Lane expressed a similar sentiment, and one that I shared as well: ¡°Being here has made me feel so internal,¡± she said, exuberantly.

Ascending out of Svalbard on my flight home, 바카라사이트 first natural light I had seen in a week ¨C a faint red-orange glow on 바카라사이트 horizon ¨C shocked me with its power. The much-welcomed sunrise underlined what I had been deprived of while exploring 바카라사이트 world¡¯s remotest territory and my own personal sense of remoteness. This adventure of a lifetime had been intensely sensory and philosophical, making me feel more vulnerable than I would previously have imagined possible, but also more resilient. And so it was with a mixture of sadness and relief that I left behind a darkness more profound than anything I will probably ever encounter again.?

Randy Malamud is Regents¡¯ professor of English at Georgia State University. He is 바카라사이트 author of The Importance of Elsewhere: The Globalist Humanist Tourist, forthcoming from Intellect.