Paper short abstract:

Within this round table we will discuss how the use of different methods and approaches of the Blue Humanities such as art and literature through movements and objects cope with the natural dynamics of marine ecosystems and populations for an undisciplined and comprehensive study of the ocean.

Paper long abstract:

Societies have historically depended on and have been shaped by marine organisms and ecosystems, through which relationships have been built at ecological and cultural levels over millennia. These mutual interactions have ensured the subsistence of humans and the resilience capacity of societies based on a sustainable use of the oceans, but also caused deep impacts on ecosystem composition, structure and function due to over-exploitation, leading to habitat degradation, species endangerment and extinction. Using the methods and approaches of the Humanities for the study and knowledge of the oceans thickens a narrative in itself multilayered, cross-cultural, and multi-specific narrative. This includes not simply diversifying scientific disciplines but truly undisciplining the Humanities. We aim at presenting a transdisciplinary approach within the framework of the Blue Humanities where art, literature and objects are sided with oceanic currents, the migrations of animals, people´s circulation across the globe and the movements created by some artifacts and non-human remains. We expect to also contribute to the discussions about the Anthropocene, placing the ocean and a more-than-human reality at the centre of the stage.