Geographical imaginaries of escape: Discourses of escapism in the Tasmanian archive

Geographical imaginaries of escape, rooted in colonialism and exacerbated by climate crisis anxieties, shape contemporary perceptions of pristine wilderness refuges. This study reveals how these imaginaries manifest in Tasmania through a critical discourse analysis of online news articles, travel blogs, and historical texts. Key sites like Martin Polin’s bunker, the Earth’s Black Box project, tourism, and tree-change illustrate the unequal distribution of desirable place identities and their ties to apocalypticism and migration. The research highlights opportunities for similar analyses in other settler colonies and wilderness areas while initiating conversations about decolonizing escapist narratives.

Burton, A. L. (2025). Geographical imaginaries of escape: Discourses of escapism in the Tasmanian archive. Geographical Research, 63(3), 405–417. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.70008