Atlantic history and insular identity: The foundations of Atlanticity in Macaronesian society during the Modern Age

Abstract

This research analyses how the identity of the Europeans of the islands of Macaronesia (Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde) was formed during the period of the Iberian Union with the aim of characterizing the traits of the island society. The fluid contacts between the islands and their oceanic environment strengthened among the islanders an attachment to the same island region made up of a population of extra-peninsular origin whose nexus was the Atlantic. This paper, which starts from the nesological approach to define the Macaronesian insular environment, supports the analysis in a broader geographic and methodological context: The Atlantic History. This study examines the principles of this discipline in relation to islands to apply its theoretical and conceptual framework to intrinsic territories in this ocean.