Ocean Modern: Liners and Literature

海洋现代：班轮和文学

基本信息

批准号：
AH/X004309/1
负责人：
Faye Hammill
金额：
$ 17.23万
依托单位：
University of Glasgow
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Fellowship
财政年份：
2023
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2023 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FX004309%2F1
关键词：
Ocean Modern Liners Literature

项目摘要

"Ocean liners remain one of the most powerful and admired symbols of twentieth-century modernity", according to the curators of a 2018 V&A exhibition. "No form of transport," they add, "was as romantic, remarkable or contested." This project asks why the ocean liner is so powerfully symbolic and what, exactly, it is symbolic of. In particular, it investigates the complex, conflicted meanings that are invested in the liner in literary texts, and uncovers its role in cultures of print and reading.Between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, large steel-hulled steamships carried millions of emigrants, refugees, troops, business-people, convalescents, celebrities, tourists and students. Shipping companies were crucial to the economic and technological development of many countries. They co-operated with governments in wartime naval operations and peacetime projects of nation- and empire-building. Liners were agents of international literary culture, carrying printing presses, libraries and bookshops. Their interiors became exhibition spaces for artists and designers. All these aspects are taken up in a wide range of novels, plays and poems by authors ranging from Claude McKay to Rebecca West, David Bone to Eugene O'Neill. Those texts - in turn - contribute to public fascination with the liner and to its broader cultural meanings. The allure of the liner derives from associations with mobility, innovation and glamour. Yet this can obscure the implication of shipping firms in oppressive and unjust practices, in contexts ranging from colonialism to armed conflict, labour disputes and forced migration. A crucial question is: can the ocean liner be a site of resistance in literary narrative or is it always aligned with the power of governments, capital and elites? In our own time, when sea crossings are still associated both with extreme luxury (all-inclusive cruises) and extreme peril (refugee small boats), this question has lost none of its resonance. The project also asks how individual ships, and the experiences of their staff and passengers, are promoted, documented, commemorated and mythologised. This part of the research draws extensively on shipping company archives. These rich collections - including posters, brochures, and staff magazines, as well as logs, diaries and voyage scrapbooks - are mostly used by geneaologists or transport historians. They will yield new insight when compared with the darker and more ambivalent narratives found in literary texts.Like the Clyde-built liners themselves, the project originates in Glasgow but extends its reach across the world. Shipping has shaped Scotland's 'cultural identity and economy' (Marine Scotland, Blue Economy Vision 2022). It is particularly crucial to the history, culture and built environment of the Clyde, Forth and Tay regions, and their maritime heritage communities will be key beneficiaries of - and contributors to - the research. There is much potential for knowledge exchange with former passengers and shipyard workers, local historians, and those conserving historic ships. My preparatory engagement with these groups has provided me with valuable feedback and insight, and has revealed a great appetite for knowledge about the literary and cultural narratives surrounding ships built in Scotland. These narratives allow local stories to be connected to the international iconography and mythology of the liner. The project's findings will be presented in a book, a set of ship case studies, and a series of live and online activities designed to engage with ship enthusiasts, heritage organisations and schools. As the first study of ocean liners in literary culture, the book will break new ground in English Studies, modernist studies and book history. It will be invaluable, too, in fields where liners are already an object of study: maritime and oceanic studies; cultural geography; travel and transport history; and visual culture studies.

根据2018年V＆A展览的策展人，“远洋客轮仍然是20世纪现代性的最强大和钦佩的象征之一。”他们补充说：“没有运输的形式是浪漫，非凡或有争议的。”该项目询问为什么远洋班轮如此有力地象征性，这是什么象征性的。特别是，它调查了在文学文本中投入的复杂的，冲突的含义，并发现了其在印刷和阅读文化中的作用。在19世纪末和20世纪中期，大型钢铁壳的轮船携带了数百万的钢铁壳，数百万，难民，难民，部队，商业，商务，召集人，庆祝活动，庆祝者，旅游师，旅游师和学生。航运公司对于许多国家的经济和技术发展至关重要。他们与战时海军行动以及民族和帝国建设的和平时期项目合作。班轮是国际文学文化的代理商，载有印刷机，图书馆和书店。他们的内部成为艺术家和设计师的展览空间。从克劳德·麦凯（Claude McKay）到丽贝卡·韦斯特（Rebecca West），大卫·伯恩（David Bone）再到尤金·奥尼尔（Eugene O'Neill）的作者，所有这些方面都是在各种小说，剧本和诗歌中占据的。这些文本（反过来）又导致了公众对衬里及其更广泛的文化含义的魅力。衬里的魅力源于与机动性，创新和魅力的关联。然而，在从殖民主义到武装冲突，劳动纠纷和强迫移民的情况下，这可能会掩盖运输公司在压迫性和不公正行为中的含义。一个至关重要的问题是：远洋班轮可以成为文学叙事中的抵抗场所，还是总是与政府，资本和精英的力量保持一致？在我们自己的时代，当海上十字路口仍然与极端的豪华（全包巡游）和极端危险（难民小船）相关联时，这个问题并没有失去其共鸣。该项目还询问如何促进，记录，纪念和神话般的个人船只以及员工和乘客的经验。研究的这一部分广泛借鉴了航运公司档案。这些丰富的收藏 - 包括海报，小册子和员工杂志，以及原木，日记和航行剪贴簿 - 主要由基因科学家或运输史学家使用。与文学文本中发现的更黑暗和更矛盾的叙述相比，它们将产生新的见解。就像克莱德建造的衬里本身一样，该项目起源于格拉斯哥，但在世界范围内扩展了范围。航运塑造了苏格兰的“文化认同和经济”（苏格兰海洋，蓝色经济愿景2022）。这对于克莱德（Clyde），福特（Forth）和泰伊（Tay）地区的历史，文化和建筑环境尤为重要，其海事遗产社区将是研究的主要受益者。与前乘客和造船厂工人，当地历史学家以及保护历史船只的人交流的知识交流很大。我与这些群体的准备工作为我提供了宝贵的反馈和见解，并揭示了人们对苏格兰建造的船只周围文学和文化叙事的了解的兴趣。这些叙述允许当地故事与班轮的国际肖像学和神话联系在一起。该项目的发现将在一本书，一组船上研究以及一系列旨在与船舶爱好者，遗产组织和学校互动的现场和在线活动中介绍。作为对文学文化中的远洋班轮的首次研究，这本书将在英语研究，现代主义研究和书籍历史上打破新的基础。在衬里已经是研究对象的领域中，这也是无价的：海上和海洋研究；文化地理；旅行和运输历史；和视觉文化研究。