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Paper short abstract

Submarine mines are often referred to as monstrosities of the sea. They form a latent threat in the seas, and many have also found their way onto shore. However, the monster metaphor cannot capture the complexity of things. This paper rethinks naval mines as one of many sea monsters of our time.

Paper long abstract

To refer to submarine mines as monstrous beings of the sea, in terms of ugly, threatening sea beasts, was a recurrent trope in the first half of the twentieth century. Still today, the sea mines from the two world wars have mainly been addressed as monstrous things that pose a threat to civilians, limit future uses of the sea, and have a negative impact on environmental sustainability. This is not surprising, as they bear almost all typical characteristics of a monster: they are frightening yet fascinating, they protect borders but are also known to transgress limits, they have agency but are largely uncontrollable, and they belong to the past but keep existing. They are also “real world monsters” in that they are created to hurt and kill, and have a deadly potential materialized in them. But are they all monstrous?

This paper argues that thinking with things instead of using the monster metaphor as a tool for thinking can contribute to broadening the picture of the sea monster of our time. Consequently, sea mines surface as more than monstrous matter with the potential to surprise us, disrupt our frames, and provide corrective feedback on narrow understandings.