Join us online or in person for a seminar with Jarrod Hodgson

Imperial Spectres: Abandoned colonial settlements and the rise of ghost-town phenomenology in the Pacific.

Most Pacific cities originated as small colonial outposts, gradually expanding as economic and governmental structures were established. By the mid-20th century, many of these outposts had evolved into commercial settlements, transforming into the sprawling urban centres that would become modern day cities.
However, not all colonial settlements followed this trajectory. Despite the optimistic prospects of expansion promised by European colonialism, towns like Samarai in Papua New Guinea stagnated, and as European settlers abandoned these towns, they faded into relative obscurity.

In this paper, Pacific ghost towns—defined as settlements that have been abandoned or significantly deserted, often as a result of colonial withdrawal—are considered as hauntological sites. These towns, in various states of ruin, embody the intersection of past and present, where the remnants of colonial history continue to haunt the landscape. The haunting of these spaces connects to both the emotional responses humans can experience in such locations and the affective landscapes they occupy. Drawing on the researcher’s personal experience visiting Samarai, the paper explores how contemporary Papua New Guinean residents navigate everyday life amidst the ruins of colonial history. The combination of hauntology, affect, and ruination in these abandoned places evokes not only nostalgia or sadness but a deeper sense of loss and an unsettling awareness of the passage of time.

14th May 2025, 11am AEDT

Burwood: C2.05.01
Waurn Ponds: IC1.108
Zoom: Click here

Jarrod Hodgson is a Graduate Researcher at Deakin. Building off research for his honours thesis, which examined the early Australian goldmining expeditions to Woodlark Island, Papua New Guinea, Jarrod is interested in the colonial experiences and cultural memories of both Australians and Papua New Guineans, and how these memories are represented in the present. 

His PhD research focuses in on the Papua New Guinean island-town of Samarai, which was once a developed commercial and administrative hub of the British and Australian administered colonial territories. Today little of Samarai remains, and it is frequently characterised as a ‘ghost-town’ for its crumbling architecture and run-down streetscapes. Yet Samarai is also home to a vibrant population of Papua New Guineans who have reclaimed the island and developed a community amongst the colonial ruins.