Spatial Confinement and Identity Formation in Victoria Hislop’s The Island

Abstract

This paper examines the interplay between spatial confinement and psychological liberation in Victoria Hislop’s The Island through
Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad. Analyzing the leper colony of Spinalonga as both a physical quarantine zone and a metaphorical "heterotopia,"
the study reveals how characters negotiate survival, valuable predicaments and evolution across generations. While Eleni and Maria transform
institutionalized oppression into sites of resilience, Anna’s rebellion and Sofia’s flight expose the fractures in traditional Greek patriarchy. Ultimately, Alexis’s synthesis of ancestral memory and modern individualism demonstrates how Hislop reconfigures Foucault’s "biopolitics of
space" into a narrative of emancipatory identity formation. The novel’s spatial allegory offers a lens to interrogate contemporary discourses on
disease stigma and cultural belonging.