Seeing the Penal Colony Through Heritage Trail Maps: Global Connections and Local Views of the bagne in French Guiana and New Caledonia

This chapter offers close readings of two sets of heritage trail signage that narrate selected sites of the bagne (penal colony). The signs are found on the sentier du bagne des Annamites at Montsinéry-Tonnégrande in French Guiana, and on the itinéraire du bagne in the southern region of New Caledonia. The interpretation focusses on the uses of maps in these signs, reading them as part of the wider narrative put forward by each set of signs. I argue that the example from French Guiana places more emphasis on some of the bagne’s global connections, particularly with then-Indochine, and foregrounds the forced migration of imprisoned persons and their coercion into forced labour. The New Caledonian example tells a more locally-focussed story of the bagne as a historical phenomenon of New Caledonia. Ultimately, I advocate for accepting ambiguity, rather than aiming for authoritativeness, in the narration of heritage sites.