The Whale on Fault Lines

Description

Ancient whales washing ashore, dead or alive, in the Tagus River during the early modern period, either by casualty or in the upcoming of well-known natural disasters. In 1531, whale and earthquake converge and reflect, individually and together, human feelings and sensations that are reproduced in the most varied contemporary cultural products that cross the space of time. This particular event allows us to explore the past of the estuarine ecosystem, writing “new thalassographies”, “historicities” or fluid humanities, and including all the actors involved –people, other animals and physical space– in understanding a shared past. It allows creativity in the writing of empirical research. As researchers of the so-called blue humanities, we conceptualize the whale-entity, we extrapolate beyond its real, biological and ecological existence, reverting it to a cultural construct or an imagined landscape. In a joint plot, a more inclusive and diverse worldview of the world we live in, and the world we would like to live in, is
created, drop by drop, and letter by letter. On it, the whale becomes kaleidoscopic. She exists in several worlds; it is several worlds. Lives on fault lines and is herself a fault line. The more-than-ecological whale and the more-than-geological estuary, compose a symphony, or a complex and tangled atlas of states, existences and emotions.

Period	7 Nov 2024
Event title	American Studies Over_Seas: Active ties, tides and times
Event type	Conference
Location	Lisbon, PortugalShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International