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- Convenors:
-
Áki Guðni Karlsson
(University of Iceland)
Cory Thorne Gutiérrez (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
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- Stream:
- INTERSECTIONALITIES
- :
- Room H-201
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 15 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
With the North Atlantic Ocean as our center we focus on the connecting flows of people and ideas as they relate to folklore and ethnology from Europe to North America, from the Arctic to the Caribbean and Africa. We ask how we re-imagine the ocean and how the ocean helps us re-imagine ourselves.
Long Abstract:
In 2012, ethnomusicologist and island studies scholar Philip Hayward edited a special issue of the journal Shima, where he coined the term aquapelago: a call to shift from terrestrially-based to ocean-centered studies in the need to understand the ecological and cultural impacts of anthropocene on small island studies. The term aquapelago is a recognition of the value of oceans - the vast unknown and unmarked aspects of oceans - as the place of movement and connection across our planet. Maritime folklore and ethnology has long recognized the power of aquapelagic imaginaries and materialities. From the study of sea shanties and mythological sea creatures to ghost ships and sailor's customs, there is a rich history of studying ocean related-lore. As ocean-oriented communities struggle with shifting materialities in response to changing ecologies and economics, we ask how we re-imagine the ocean and how the ocean helps us re-imagine ourselves. How might an aquapelagic imaginary help us re-interpret concepts of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, humanism and post-humanism? How might the ocean serve to deepen our understanding of and/or escape from colonial frameworks? Placing the North Atlantic Ocean as our center allows us to focus on the connecting flows of people and ideas as they relate to folklore and ethnology from Europe to North America, from the Artic to the Caribbean and Africa.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 15 June, 2022, -Paper short abstract:
Sailor's Valentines are souvenirs that were made by women in Barbados during the 1800s. Sold to sailors, they dispersed across the Atlantic, and came to serve as reminders of 19th Century globalization—objects of memory that connect family histories to the Black Atlantic and ocean imaginaries.
Paper long abstract:
Sailor's Valentine are souvenirs that were made by women in Bridgetown, Barbados during the mid to late 1800s. They were octagonal wooden diptych boxes, constructed mostly out of mahogany. When opened, the small boxes exposed meticulously and artistically placed pastel-coloured seashells, spelling out Victorian sentimental phrases such as "Forget Me Not." Most were sold out of the New Curiosity Shop owned by two English-settler brothers, B.H. and George Belgraves, to sailors and fishermen who then dispersed them across the Atlantic as material reminders of 19th Century globalization. My great grandfather, James Reid of Carbonear, Newfoundland and Labrador, traveled to Barbados in the 1880s on a fishing schooner and returned home with one for his wife. This wooden box continues to remind me of great grandfather's oceanic travels. It is a tool that reveals and reimagines a community's narrative and intersections with the Black North Atlantic. It symbolizes connection between a community that considered itself insular and isolated and the reality of the perpetual globalization and movement happening throughout the Atlantic Ocean. The Sailor's Valentine represents the historic ocean imaginaries—in my case, an empowering sense of family pride of working and living on the sea—that were unfolding across the Atlantic, and the conversations that were perhaps unattainable to recognize until now.
Paper short abstract:
This paper looks at TikTok’s international folk music community as an aquapelagic assemblage that reinforces locality while embracing globalization, using case studies of traditional musicians across the North Atlantic, and participant observation.
Paper long abstract:
This paper looks at TikTok’s international folk music community as an aquapelagic assemblage that reinforces locality while embracing globalization, using case studies of traditional musicians across the North Atlantic, and participant observation. In late 2020, sea shanties became famously popular on the app TikTok. This phenomenon struck home with people across oceans, and served as a siren song, calling traditional musicians en masse. The app blends social media with simple media creation and production tools, giving both a creative venue and source of community to pandemic-frustrated musicians. Notable is the ‘duet’ feature, which enables co-performance and allows musicians to collaborate in a dynamic and uniquely accessible way.
This developed into a hybridized community of traditional music of the North Atlantic. On one hand, the style, repertoire, and language lean towards a blend of Celtic-centric anglophone traditions. Yet, unique regional and indigenous traditions are encouraged and can thrive at the same time; and both the localized and international movements play off of each other.
Ultimately, TikTok’s popularity and unique features do not modify localized musical identity itself, but rather how it is enacted. Musicians adapt, taking their tunes from stages to screens, banter from pubs to personal messages, and gatherings from community dances to comment sections. The result is a digitally embodied transatlantic phenomenon that challenges rigid conceptions of identity and locality.
Paper short abstract:
Storm stories are the heart of the genre of sea-going narratives. This paper examines the storm stories of women; more often stories of communion with, rather than conquest of, the sea. Their view of the shore from the sea offers new imaginaries to counter the forces threatening the ocean.
Paper long abstract:
The Sea has always been the domain of men. Until the 20th century, women longing to go to sea had to “pass” as men and run the risk of discovery. Their stories fueled a new generation of sailing women. Today, although a minority within the community of circumnavigating sailors, women often use their sea-going experiences to draw attention to the ocean; tracking endangered species, taking water samples, and documenting threatened island cultures. These experiences contribute to a body of narratives shared across the water. Storm stories are the heart of the genre of sea-going narratives. While successfully navigating “the sea monster” is an important rite of passage, it is the story that solidifies one’s identity as a sailor. This paper examines the storm stories of women and how they shape identity and create connections with the planet. These are narratives of confidence, competence, and growth. They are empowering stories about facing the elements and overcoming one’s fears. Yet, they more often reflect a sense of communion with, rather than a conquest of, the sea, thus affirming an ancient connection women have with water. The telling of the story is its own rite of passage, reflecting a liminal moment that allows us to re-imagine who we are. The story becomes the vehicle for viewing the shore from the sea and transforming our perspective of the planet. In this way, they might differ from the stories of men and offer new imaginaries to counter the forces threatening the ocean.
Paper short abstract:
Mercultures carry knowledge that empowers queer bodies, debunking and exposing the tools of cishet colonial violence. Re-visiting Paul Gilroy's Black Atlantic alongside Philip Hayward's aquapelagic assemblages, provides a pathway for healing and re-imagination for queer and BIPOC bodies.
Paper long abstract:
Looking at historical and contemporary examples of mercultures - in West Africa, Cuba, Newfoundland, and across the Nordic aquapelago - we find numerous references to gender and sexual diversity. The folklore of mermaids, sirens, and other anthropomorphic sea creatures is often framed as warnings to sailors. They remind us of the dangers of the ocean.
By re-visiting Paul Gilroy's Black Atlantic, we re-insert black enslaved bodies into the development of global capitalism and we remind ourselves of the colonial legacies of all sea-fairing nations that circle the North Atlantic. Combining this with Philip Hayward's aquapelagic assemblages, we reframe coastal communities as connected by the ocean, in opposition to terrestrial orientations that encourage narratives of isolation. Together, they empower the ocean as a space beyond colonization.
Using examples from Yoruba mythology such as Yemaya, Olokun, and Erinlé, we will explore how mer-creatures serve to restore pre-colonial understandings of gender and sexual diversity. Looking at examples from Newfoundland, we will show how contemporary mermen help combat hegemonic masculinity and embrace body diversity. Surveying mermaids and mermen across the Nordic aquapelago, we will see how ocean imaginaries help us reconceptualize and recover queer spaces and knowledge, complicating and debunking the gender binary (cis) and deconstructing heteronormativity (het) - a response to cishet colonial violence.