Navigating
the Blue: An Overview of the Exemplary Scholarship in Blue Humanities
Dr.
Himani LVL,
Assistant
Professor,
Faculty
in English,
Andhra
University College of Engineering for Women,
Andhra
University,
Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Abstract:
Water is not
just a resource for living but a dynamic force shaping human identity, history
and environment. It cannot be treated as a vestige when the colonialism of the
terrestrial assets comes to an end with all the deep pockets empty. In fact,
rivers are considered as the cradles of civilizations, on the planet, with
which mankind is deeply associated for their fostering and advancements towards
the modern societies. Water bodies, whether they are the seas, oceans, rivers,
lakes, glaciers etc., cannot be isolated or neglected in understanding the
ecosystems, and moreover a deep awareness is needed to recognize their vital
role in maintaining the socio-ecological balance. A part from the scientific
study of these water bodies, a lot of research is being done in the aspect of
literature, in the name of ‘Blue Humanities’, which may surface the histories
of cultures and the lives of the indigenous peoples that are inherently linked
to the oceans and the other waters. A profound exploration of these aspects can
help in addressing the raising concerns of environmental issues such as
pollution and climate change, which are questioning the human beings’ chances
of survival on the planet. In this context, this paper attempts to explore some
of the literary writings which are really concerned with the framework of Blue
Humanities and are striving to change the hegemonic approach of land to water,
thus making the aquatic bodies as the center of not only of human imagination,
but also for human survival.
Keywords:
Blue humanities, water bodies, socio-ecological balance, eco-systems,
environmental crises, sublimity
Overview:
As
the exploration of planet has reached its culmination in this age of modern
science and technology, man has left nothing his behind but only the devastation
on one hand and the socio-environmental crisis on the other. This situation of
despondency created the necessity to scour at the alternatives for the
betterment of the planet by looking towards the oceans and seas which are
considered as the places for the origins of human cultures, with a paradigm
shift from land-centered perceptions to the water-centered perceptions in order
to examine, how the oceans and seas have shaped the culture of the mankind.
This approach paved the way for various writings on the aquatic life especially
by creating specialized disciplines in the worldwide academia, thus placing
every study under the umbrella term, ‘Blue Humanities’, coined by an English
professor, Steve Menz, in his book An Introduction to Blue Humanities(2024).
Historicization of the oceans is one of the striking trends exploring ocean
histories that go beyond white man’s colonial cultures, and hence the Maritime
science once concerned about water’s surface is now concerned with life in the
ocean itself. This cultural turn which was started in eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries has given rise to numerous studies in the blue humanities as it
provides a frame work to study the oceans and other water bodies, with an
emphasis on the relationship between the life of underwater and the human
experience, thus bringing together various disciplines such as Literature,
History, Philosophy, Cultural Studies etc. Being a transdisciplinary and
interdisciplinary area of study, Blue Humanities gave rise to the ecological
thinking, when mariners discovered the damage that invasive species of plants
and animals could do on small islands around the world. This heightened
ecological awareness has prompted a significant shifting focus, about the
oceans, from the study of shipwrecks, voyages, and sailors’ expeditions to a
deeper exploration of the life of water bodies, the experiences in indigenous
land communities, their intrinsic relationship with the oceans, and the
richness of marine ecosystems. Such an approach offers a more comprehensive
understanding of contemporary ecological crises and underscores the urgent need
to preserve ecological balance, with the framework of Blue Humanities, which
was characterized by disciplinary fluidity, maritime history, nautical literatures,
marine sciences, sea narratives etc. This framework involves a disciplinary
approach that uses cultural, literary, and historical lenses to understand
humanity’s relationship with water, particularly oceans and seas, highlighting
the humanity’s mutual dependence on the ocean and giving a call for action to
protect and preserve, these water resources in the wake of climate change and
rising sea levels.
Advertently,
Blue Humanities, questions traditional, land-locked ways of thinking and
perception, thus aiming to redress the imbalance in the academic scholarship,
that has traditionally focused on terrestrial subjects. As a discipline it
should counter a westernized colonial depiction of land in the narratives which
always makes land to precede the water. In such counter studies, Odyssey,
a classical work by Homer, and one of the foundational texts of world
literature focus on examining the epic’s depiction of the ocean and its
relationship with humanity, with a water-centric perception, considering the
cultural, ecological and existential significance of the Mediterranean Sea. The
sea has always been depicted as a dynamic force with its wrath and perils
inherent, symbolizing the spirit of freedom and adventure. Hence, instead of
considering the sea as a backdrop of Odysseus’ story, the Blue Humanities frame
work, reconsiders it as a source of powerful transformative entity, with a
combination of life sustaining resources, immense dangers, profound mysteries
etc., all together, testing the human resilience. The epic’s extensive voyages
across the sea are interpreted as a fundamental human impulse to explore,
discover and confront the unknown. In this perspective Odysseus’s journey can
be examined through the human consciousness, encountering the wilderness and
vastness of the watery world, highlighting the ocean’s symbolic and spiritual
importance in their culture. Apart from the dangerous voyages and different
incidents that happened in the epic, simultaneous themes can be framed through
a contemporary understanding of the ocean as a complex, dynamic, and vital
element of human experience and the planet. The sea is not only a dangerous,
chaotic force, but also a place of profound personal growth and transformation,
and with the lenses of ecocritical perspective of Blue Humanities, the poem can
be analyzed as a precursor to modern ecological thought, exploring the ocean’s
fragility and the long-standing relationship between human actions and marine
ecosystems.
Sea
of Cortez, (1941), is another wonderful water narrative by
Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts, which gives an account of a marine biological
expedition of the Gulf of California, popularly known as the Sea of Cortez.
Ricketts, collaborating with his friend Steinbeck, went on this expedition to
explore and document the diversity of the marine life, under the waters, aiming
to capture, preserve and catalog numerous species. The work offers
philosophical insights, drawing parallels between human and marine life,
contributing to both scientific literature and nature writing and highlighting
the intricate relationships within marine ecosystems. During their six-week
expedition, Ricketts and Steinbeck, captured thousands of specimens and nearly
560 species of marine invertebrates, which was the first ever collection of
such kind of fauna in the Gulf of California. As invertebrates are known for
their high sensitivity to changes in water quality, nutrient levels,
pollutants, naturally, their existence and their diversity indicate the purity
of the water bodies, acting as the bio-indicators. Also, they are the food
sources for other aquatic bodies and create habitats such as the coral reefs,
thus playing a key role in sustaining the ecosystem. Hence, the collection of
such specimens, and their record in the book, needless to say, has given a
first public call for the conservation in the Gulf of California, and created
an alarming awareness about the region among the both scientists and even the
public. Since its publication, the chronicle has inspired hundreds and
thousands of young students to devote their careers to marine and field biology
and created a profound impact on the American environmental consciousness.
Rachel
Carson, an American biologist, writer and conservationist, was known for her
advocacy in advancing marine conservation and the global environmental movement
with her ground breaking works, Sea trilogy (1941-1955) and Silent
Spring (1962). Specifically, Sea Around Us, one in the trilogy,
demonstrates the deep connection between the sea and all life on earth,
including the regulation of climate and the support of diverse ecosystems. It
is considered as a classic nature writing that details the history, science and
ecology of earth’s oceans, blending scientific accuracy with poetic prose. The
text explores the deep sea, its varied life forms, and the powerful influence
of tides and currents, promoting the awareness of the ocean’s vital role in the
global eco system, which still resonates today. Carson’s work both anticipates
and complicates Blue Humanities concerns by decentering the man’s approach to
the sea, narrating deep time, and foregrounding the oceanic agency, yet still
reflecting Cold war, Anthropocentric views, and even gendered contexts. It
invites the readers to see the ocean not as a backdrop but as a dynamic living
force, which has increasingly altered by human activity, impacting the marine
eco systems. As a counter approach to the sea, from the land centric view,
Carson, highlights the origin and the role of marine life in sustaining the
planet. She draws the equal significance to the seasons both on the land and in
the seas with the depiction of the spring season and the key changes that
happens in the waters, during the period, in the following lines,
“In the sea as on the land, spring
is a time for the renewal of life. During the long months of winter in the
temperate zones the surface waters have been absorbing the cold. Now the heavy
water begins to sink, slipping down and displacing the warmer layers below.
Rich stores of minerals have been accumulating on the floor of the continental
shelf- some freighted down the rivers from the lands; some derived from sea
creatures that have died and whose remains have drifted down to the bottom;
some from the shells …Nothing is wasted in the sea; every particle of material
is used over and over again, first by one creature, then by another. And when
in spring the waters are deeply stirred, the warm bottom water brings the
surface a rich supply of minerals, ready for use by the new forms of life” (Carson
29)
As
Blue Humanities encourage a deeper reading of the water narratives,
highlighting the themes of migration, ecology, resilience etc., the field
places oceans, seas and waterways at the center of cultural, historical and
environmental discussions. The Social Construction of the Ocean, by
Philip Steinberg, is one such ground breaking work, which makes its central
argument that the ocean is not simply a natural space or an empty void waiting
to be used, but it is a socially constructed space whose boundaries, meanings
and uses are shaped by history, culture, politics and economics. Steinberg
insists that the ocean has always been made by human societies, constructed as
a space of fear, freedom, circulation, or territory depending on cultural and political
needs and this reminds us how we think about the sea, shapes how we use and
govern it. With his profound understanding and observation of the sea and its
fluidity, Steinberg asserts that, humans continually impose structures on it in
the name of laws, navigation, routes, shipping lanes, fisheries management, and
territorial claims, thereby defining the ocean by the human practices but not
in terms of the natural laws. Moreover, with the rise of global trade and
exploration, the ocean became a highway for commerce and trade, mobilizing the
goods, people, and even ideas more freely, enabling the globalization.
Steinberg argues that, modern capitalist world-economy relies on imagining the
ocean as a space for free movement, undermining the ecological structures and
the marine life that are innate within the waters. His argument accelerates the
fact of how blue economy is augmenting with new trade policies at the cost of
neglecting the issues of damaging eco cultures and losing the sustainability of
the planet.
Sublimity which was previously associated with mountains
and forests came to be associated with water, because of its immense power,
mystery and capacity to evoke awe and wonder representing the totality that
challenges the human understanding of the oceans. The vastness of the oceans
embodies a power, both beautiful and terrifying, making humans insignificant
and simultaneously igniting the feelings of fear and fascination at their
profundity. Serving as a figure of global space, ocean is considered as a realm
beyond boundaries of land and nations and with its deep uncharted regions,
became the ‘terra incognita’ of the world, thus relocating the mystery once
associated with the land to the depths of the sea. Modern novel at sea with its
sublimity was born with Robinson Crusoe and reached metaphysical sophistication
with Moby-Dick by Melville. Men seeking solitude shifted their gaze to
the oceans, while the world is being filled with the dystopian societies.
Writers and painters have turned their full attention to sea itself as a place
of physical and spiritual recreation, in contrast to those historical fictions
that dealt with the ships, sailors, their skill in manning them, voyages, with
sea just as an afterthought. Steve Menz in his work An Introduction to the
Blue Humanities, observes Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner as
a linchpin of the Romantic sublime in English poetry. In his words,
“The poem’s stark representations
of isolation on a vast sea juxtapose human frailty and inhuman power. From a
multiphase blue humanities perspective, the poem depicts multiple encounters
with sublime water creatures, including the icebergs of the Southern Ocean, the
world-girdling winds of the Roaring Forties and the inhuman encounter with the
albatross…Coleridge’s mariner never recognizes himself in his non-human world.
Rather, sublime encounter in this ocean remains opaque, and human agency
thoroughly minimized.” (ch.4)
On
the other hand, Blue Humanities also comes from a longer tradition of water
practices by many communities globally, sharing a genealogical connection to
the ocean, whose knowledge helps to understand the ocean’s profound impact on
history, culture and identity. Renowned Pacific scholar, a Tongan and Fijian
writer, Epeli Hau'ofa, highlights this innate relation of indigenous
communities with the ocean in his work, Our Sea of Islands (1993) by
asserting on the significance of the ocean to the Pacific Islanders. He
presents a contrasting view of the ‘Oceania’, his favorite word for Pacific islands,
in which people see the islands differently. For outsiders, the view is
external, as islands in a far sea, emphasizing the isolation, remoteness, small
and masses, dependency and marginality, but for them, as insiders, the view is
a sea of islands, a Pacific centered view that sees the ocean not as a barrier
but as connective thread, integral to identity, culture, movement and
relationships. Epeli, criticizes the Colonial, Western perceptions as the
colonial powers brought with them the idea of islands as isolated, hopeless,
small places, thus creating the false boundaries. He recalls this idea by
stating, “we never thought of ourselves as being from small places. We spent
most of our time by the sea where we could see this vast ocean and knew there were
other places, beyond, where our friends and relatives were” (xv). Being more
than a geographic entity, sea is a home, source of livelihood, identity, memory
and history. Hau’ofa urges people to recognize the ocean’s central role and to
see the region’s wealth not only in land but in oceanic resources and
relationships. Another interesting novel, The Hungry Tide by Amitav
Ghosh, deals with the sea-threatened Sundarbans, tiny islands in the Bay of
Bengal. Nature is shown not as a backdrop but as an active powerful force. The
lives of the people in the area are intimately tied to storms, animals, tides
etc. The book depicts the conflict between conservation and environmental rules
and the livelihood of the local people. The local communities depend on fishing,
forest, produce, etc., but some environmental protection measures threaten
their existence. As the protection of environments often comes at the cost of
human livelihoods, the novel questions, who benefits from conservation. Amitav
Ghosh is not intended to narrate the story of an adventure or romance but he
uses the Sundarbans to explore environmental ethics, power, displacement, and
how modernity interacts with the tradition of nature. Hence, the novel can be
related to the present-day climate crises, addressing the issues of communities
living in vulnerable ecologies. Be it Hau’ofa, or Jules Vernes, or Rachel
Carson, or Steve Mentz etc., all these writers focus on the reconsideration of
the watery planet, nullifying the hegemonic attribution to the land masses and
highlights the significance of water as the crux of human life on the planet.
Conclusion:
Blue Humanities gives a hope of
imaginative possible features for human intimacy with water. As sea rises
glaciers melt as warm air absorbs more moisture, the blue humanities will have
much to say and do in our changing ecological condition. Rising sea levels,
decline in fresh water availability, threat to marine life as a result of
increased Anthropocentric concerns, are the further challenges, that have to be
dealt in this frame work. A focus on planetary water through writings and
academic scholarships, tend to address the global concerns of today’s
eco-catastrophic times. Human relationship with water has to be changed.
Whether it is hydro criticism of critical oceanic studies or the ocean history
or the sub-disciplinary methods … all together under the banner of the blue
humanities. Human beings shouldn’t forget the fact that, conservation, purity
and sustainability are the morals of water, which cannot be undermined in the
name of anthropocentrism. Following lines from the essay, “The Emergence of
Blue Humanities: Traversing Land locked Ecocriticism in the novels of the
Floating World”, act as a warning to the mankind if the water life is still
neglected and leading to the catastrophes,
“The world is creeping
toward Darwinism. This ‘death by water’, will act as a double-edged sword,
where, on the one hand, the land will succumb to water, and on the other, the
lack of water, the droughts and water crisis will lead to extinction of living
beings. This is the wasteland of the modern era manufactures by ongoing
Anthropocene activities without consideration for the sustainable management of
resources for the future. Thinking beyond the ecocriticism is a key to counter
this anthropocentric situation”. (44)
Works
Cited
Carson,
Rachel. The Sea Around Us. Oxford University Press, 1951.
Ghosh,
Amitav. The Hungry Tide. Ravi Dayal Publisher, 2004.
Hau’ofa.
Epeli. “Our Sea of Islands”, We are the Ocean. University of Hawaii
Press, 2008, pp.27.
Khan,
Sharukh. “The Emergence of Blue Humanities: Traversing Land locked Ecocriticism
in the novels of the Floating World”, New Research in English Studies. Ed.
Samson Thomas, et al. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2025, pp.44.
Menz,
Steve. An Introduction to Blue Humanities. Routledge, 2024.
Steinberg
E. Philip. The Social Construction of the Ocean. Cambridge University
Press, 2001.
Steinbeck,
John. Steinbeck and the Environment. Ed. Susan F. Beegel, et.al. University of
Alabama Press, 1997.