Geographical representations of the «Other»: the landscape of the Panama Canal Zone

Abstract

Concentrating on the years 1912–1940, this paper explores why the Panama Canal Zone developed as a hyper-American suburb completely separated from surrounding countryside, cities, and people. It argues that American representations of Panama and Panamanians generated a recognizable Panama Canal Zone residential landscape. Canal Zone towns were designed to remove white American residents from an array of «Others», specifically an «Other» natural landscape (the Panamanian «jungle»), an «Other» cultural landscape (Panamanian Cities), and an «Other» people (the West Indian Panama Canal labour force and Spanish-speaking Panamanians). The negative nature of these representations undergirded American perceptions of the Canal Zone. Importantly, the manner in which Americans understood Panama bolstered the imperial practice of rationalizing discrimination against tropical people, the need for segregated housing, and the creation of an Americanized landscape. In doing so, American representations of Panama as «Other» engendered an American sense of superiority. The paper views the Canal Zone communities as not only reflecting social, moral, and economic outlooks of the American administrators, but also as embodying American perceptions of Panama and Panamanians as the «Other».