Sea Narratives: Cultural Responses to the Sea, 1600–Present

"This is an ambitious volume which, throughout the nine essays, breaks new ground by undertaking exciting cross-disciplinary theorizing, summarising the state of the study of sea narratives thus far. A strong guiding editorial hand shapes and frames the chapters, which each offer the reader a glimpse of innovative original research." (Catherine Armstrong, Loughborough University, UK)

Sea Narratives: Cultural Responses to the Sea, 1600-Present explores the relationship between the sea and culture from the early modern period to the present. The collection uses the concept of the ‘sea narrative’ as a lens through which to consider the multiple ways in which the sea has shaped, challenged, and expanded modes of cultural representation to produce varied, contested and provocative chronicles of the sea across a variety of cultural forms within diverse socio-cultural moments. Sea Narratives provides a unique perspective on the relationship between the sea and cultural production: it reveals the sea to be more than simply a source of creative inspiration, instead showing how the sea has had a demonstrable effect on new modes and forms of narration across the cultural sphere, and in turn, how these forms have been essential in shaping socio-cultural understandings of the sea. The result is an incisive exploration of the sea’s force as a cultural presence.