Human Nature at Sea
Author(s)
Helmreich, Stefan
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Nineteenth-century Americans and Europeans
envisaged the ocean as a sublime
space, at once frightening and inviting. Romantic
poets such as Byron and Shelley celebrated
the sea as a seductive substance with which we humans might seek to
merge, dissolving our bodies into the nourishing
matrix of life itself. A kindred vision
persists today, underwriting ecologically
minded suggestions that we human beings
tune more deeply into our environmentally
embattled Earth. According to such views,
humans might amplify our ecological consciousness
by recognizing that an oceanic
past swims through our most intimate substances:
our blood, sweat, and tears.
Date issued
2010-12Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Anthropology Program; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. School of Humanities, Arts, and Social SciencesJournal
Anthropology Now
Publisher
Paradigm Publishers
Citation
Helmreich, Stephan. "Human Nature at Sea." Anthropology Now 2.3 Dec.(2010): 49-60. © 2010 Paradigm Publishers.
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1949-2901
1942-8200