Capraia Island and Its Representation in Audiovisual Media: Recounting a carceral, agro-pastoral and eco-touristic landscape

This article explores the shifting representations of the landscape of Capraia island in popular audiovisual media. Through analyses based on a framework delineated by popular geopolitics we explore three different media categories which have portrayed the island over the last decades: naturalistic and historical documentaries, tourism centred TV programs and vernacular audiovisual representations. The aim was to reveal intertwined discourses within broader socio-political factors and histories. The carceral landscape of the former penal colony declined and was replaced by ecotourism and agro-pastoral activities. These top-down narratives obscured the complexity of islanders’ reality, focusing on possible sustainable tourist scenarios as well as romanticising the appearance of a Mediterranean island as near pristine. Nonetheless, if vernacular representations, such as home movies and grassroots interviews, are taken into consideration, local voices and tourist perspectives emerge. We no longer have a one-sided story and polysemy, criticality, and friction become inherent characteristics of recent representations.