Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 13:18:20 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Re: Ship narratives


Liz,

Three more quick suggestions.

Gilroy, Paul. BLACK ATLANTIC (though I'm sure that's a rather obvious suspect).

The next two aren't necessarily about transatlantic voyages but I do think
they are quite illuminating in that they bring into discussion the unique
cultural space of the ship.

Great Bear of Arkansas.  I don't know the author but it's an old American
short story (early 19th century, I believe) found in most anthologies. 
It's a metanarrative that involves a bunch of folks on a steamboat
listening to some guy tell a story about the great bear of Arkansas.  More
than the story itself, what I've always found interesting are the
characters who occupy this ship and how the ship becomes a symbol of the
national collective (brought together by a story/literature).

Foucault also has an essay called OF OTHER SPACES.  The source escapes me
but I'm sure someone on this list must know it.  In this essay, Foucault
discusses various types of spaces (utopic, dystopic, hetertopic, and every
other form of topic imaginable) and briefly highlights the unique space of
the boat/ship as being at one and the same both real and unreal.

tommy s kim
University of Minnesota
Department of English 


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