Blue Humanities: Storied Waterscapes in the Anthropocene

The blue humanities is a transdisciplinary field that examines the planet's troubled seas and freshwaters from socio-cultural, literary, historical, aesthetic, ethical, and theoretical perspectives. It challenges the cultural primacy of standard sea and freshwater narratives and promotes disanthropocentric discourses about water ecologies. The authors hypothesis is that fluid-storied matter and the new stories we tell can change the game by changing our mindset.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 75 pages
Publication date: 10 August 2023
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The blue humanities is a multidisciplinary field that critically examines the planet's troubled seas and distressed freshwaters from various socio-cultural, literary, historical, aesthetic, ethical, and theoretical perspectives. Drawing on oceanography (marine sciences) and limnology (freshwater sciences), social sciences, and the environmental humanities, the field seeks to understand the complex relationships between humans and water, and to explore the ways in which human activities have impacted the health and sustainability of these vital ecosystems.

Since all waterscapes in the Anthropocene are overexploited and endangered sites, the field calls for transdisciplinary cooperation and encourages thinking with water and thinking together beyond the conventions of tentacular anthropocentric thought. Working across many disciplines, the blue humanities challenges the cultural primacy of standard sea and freshwater narratives and promotes disanthropocentric discourses about water ecologies. Engaging with the most pressing water problems, this Element contributes to those new discursive practices from a material ecocritical perspective.

The authors' hypothesis is that fluid-storied matter and the new stories we tell can change the game by changing our mindset. By exploring the cultural, social, and environmental dimensions of water, the blue humanities seeks to foster a deeper understanding of our relationship with this essential resource and to inspire action to protect and preserve it for future generations.

Weight: 136g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 7 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781009393270