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• January 9, 2025
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The sea has always inspired our imagination. However, research on the oceans has recently become a critical focus in academic scholarship in the field of humanities. Antara Chatterjee noted that the 21st century has witnessed an oceanic turn in the humanities. The field has shifted from a terracentric view to oceanic view. Sea Explorer David Helvarg has reflected on how little we know about our oceans. He rightly said, “More is known about the dark side of the moon than is known about the depths of the oceans.” This also brings our attention to our surroundings which majorly comprises 70% oceans. We have been too fascinated by the land because we can acquire it and establish our power. Oceans cannot be controlled and we are afraid of things which we cannot control. Therefore, we never deeply thought of our oceans. However, the blue humanities transcended this fear and embraced fluidity corresponding to the flow of life. Through this blog, we will explore the beginnings of the blue humanities. Why are we discussing this? As it is an emerging field, in January 2025 UGC-NET English Literature exam, questions related to blue humanities were asked. So, it is important to discuss the breadth and depth of the UGC-NET English Literature syllabus. 

Beginning of the Blue Humanities

The Blue Humanities emerged in fiction writing from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Fiction writers explored the undersea worlds that explorers could never reach. The legacy of literature is more progressive. It was Albert Einstein who understood it better when he said that imagination is more important than knowledge. Literature reaches the corners of the world effortlessly where science reaches after a long stride. Marine scientists like Rachel Carson were inspired by arts and literature to explore the depths of the oceans. She wrote in 1951 that humans were destined to return to the sea from which they had emerged eons earlier, but this time they would do so “mentally and imaginatively.” This cultural turn to the sea began in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and by now there is a vast trove of writing, painting, and music that awaits examination under the rubric of what English professor Steve Mentz would like us to call the “blue humanities.”

Sea and its literary influence 

Sea stories, sea shanties, and marine painting are not recent phenomena, but they have only recently gained attention in academic research. The seascape, which was once considered a minor genre in art history focused on ships and harbors, gained renewed interest in the nineteenth century with artists like J. M. W. Turner and Winslow Homer, who introduced a new focus on light and movement in their depictions of the sea. This “pure seascape” approach, as some critics refer to it, shifted the genre’s emphasis. Scholars in comparative literature, such as Margaret Cohen, have pointed out that sea stories, which initially centred on the practicalities of sailing, increasingly began to focus on the ocean itself during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The sea became a metaphorical space for exploring ideas of modernity. The modern novel, as exemplified by Robinson Crusoe, originated at sea and reached new philosophical depths in Moby-Dick, later expanding through the ocean-themed science fiction works of Jules Verne. Melville’s insight that “meditation and water are wedded forever” was foreshadowed nearly a century later by Rachel Carson’s The Sea Around Us (1951), which reflected humanity’s growing intellectual and imaginative engagement with the sea. In the emerging field of “ecoliterature,” writers like John Steinbeck are being recognized for their scientific approach, particularly in The Log from the Sea of Cortez, written in collaboration with naturalist Ed Ricketts, which is considered an early example of this genre, published alongside Carson’s influential work.

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Features of Blue Humanities 

The blue humanities are characterized by disciplinary fluidity, maritime history, nautical literature, marine sciences, and sea narratives in various media and cultural forms. The blue humanities view the ocean as a material and social entity that helps us to rethink our social and political relationships, sovereignty, nationhood and belonging, and the interaction between human and non-human. 

Oceans in Literature: A Deep Dive

In literature, water often serves as a dynamic metaphor, a physical setting, and a narrative force. From mythology to contemporary fiction, oceans and other water bodies have played pivotal roles in shaping stories and themes.

1. Mythology and Ancient Texts:

• In ancient civilizations, water often symbolized life, chaos, or transformation. For instance, Greek mythology’s Poseidon and Hindu mythology’s Varuna are deities associated with the seas, reflecting their cultural and spiritual significance.
• Texts like Homer’s The Odyssey highlight the ocean as a site of adventure and existential trials, capturing humanity’s eternal fascination with the unknown.

2. Romanticism and the Sublime:

• Romantic poets, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, viewed the sea as an embodiment of the sublime—a space of awe and terror.
• Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner portrays the ocean as a moral and mystical force, central to the mariner’s journey of guilt and redemption.

3. Modernist and Postmodernist Perspectives:

• Modernist works like Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness use rivers and seas as metaphors for the journey into the human psyche and colonial exploitation.
• In postmodern literature, oceans often represent fluidity, displacement, and hybridity, reflecting contemporary concerns about identity and globalization.

4. Postcolonial Narratives:

• In postcolonial literature, oceans are symbols of cultural exchange and colonial histories. Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies explores maritime journeys as spaces of displacement and identity formation during the colonial era.
• Caribbean literature, such as Derek Walcott’s poetry, highlights the legacies of the Middle Passage, blending cultural memory with the ocean’s timeless presence.

5. Environmental Literature:

• Contemporary works, like Rachel Carson’s The Sea Around Us, emphasize the ocean’s ecological importance, urging for its preservation.
• Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island intertwines themes of climate change and rising sea levels, showcasing the ocean’s centrality in the Anthropocene.

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Themes in Blue Humanities

The Blue Humanities encourage us to view water bodies not just as geographical features but as spaces that shape and reflect human experiences. Key themes include:

• Interconnectedness: Oceans are bridges between cultures, histories, and ecologies, symbolizing global interdependence.
• Boundary and Fluidity: Water challenges fixed boundaries, representing cultural and existential liminality.
• Exploration and Exploitation: From colonial maritime routes to modern overfishing, literature critiques human exploitation of marine resources.
• Resilience and Conservation: Stories often advocate for the preservation of water ecosystems and highlight their resilience.

Literary Significance of the Blue Humanities

The Blue Humanities offer a framework to reinterpret literature through an aquatic lens. They reveal how water shapes narratives and how narratives, in turn, influence our understanding of water. This field also highlights literature’s role in fostering ecological awareness and addressing urgent environmental challenges.

How did you find this blog? Interesting! Yes, it is. But this is an introductory blog. You need to focus in-depth to tick the right answers in your UGC-NET English exam. If you need guidance on these interesting topics, join Sahitya Classes! At Sahitya Classes, you will receive proper guidance from Prof. Vineet Pandey. Sahitya Classes is known as the best UGC-NET coaching in Delhi. Here, you will not just get coaching for UGC-NET but you will also get guidance for your PhD. So, this is an advantageous offer which will cater to both the needs. To join the UGC NET Offline Batch 2025, starting from January 15, contact us. In the offline batch, you will get comprehensive UGC-NET English Literature notes, comprising 15 booklets, covering every aspect of the UGC-NET 2025 English syllabus. Not just that! You will also get to participate in various extra-curricular activities and advanced exposure to literary conferences. Sahitya Classes makes you a holistic litterateur. If you are unable to join the offline batch, you can join the UGC NET Offline Batch Course 2025. So, what are you waiting for? Join now!

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