Cosmopolitan Cultures and Oceanic Thought

This book explores how the ocean has been a central concept in understanding the world and its connections in history, literature, and the social sciences, analyzing the movements of people, material, and ideologies across the waters and how they make their presence felt in a cosmopolitan thinking of the connections of the world. It goes beyond violent histories of slavery and indenture to track the movements of sailors, boatmen, religious teachers, merchants, and adventurers, and offers a rethinking of world history that will be of interest to scholars and researchers of history, literature, and Global South studies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 270 pages
Publication date: 29 March 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This captivating book delves into the profound significance of the ocean in shaping our understanding of the world and its intricate connections throughout history, literature, and the social sciences. By adopting the ocean as a central conceptual category, it meticulously analyzes the rich tapestry of movement and traversal across interconnected spaces of water and land, embedded within literary texts, folklore, local histories, autobiographies, music, and performance. It explores the ceaseless flow of people, materials, and ideologies across the vast waters, unraveling how they leave their mark on a cosmopolitan vision of the world's interconnectedness.

Going beyond the violent histories of slavery and indenture that forge global connections, this book traces the footsteps of sailors, boatmen, religious teachers, merchants, and adventurers, weaving together a diverse and interconnected narrative. The essays collected within this volume vividly evoke this miscegenated history, where land and water are forever intertwined. This volume represents a significant rethinking of world history, offering invaluable insights to scholars and researchers in the fields of history, particularly connected history and maritime history, literature, and Global South studies.

Weight: 438g
Dimension: 155 x 234 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032292977