The study discusses several theoretical approaches towards an understanding of the shore as a cultural phenomenon. It seeks to combine approaches by Carl Schmitt, Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari with narrative texts by Daniel Defoe, Osacar Wilde, Nathaniel Hawthorne and others. In a seperate chapter it offers a short cultural history of the view on the sea as it has shaped oriental perception from biblical and classical texts until today. The main aim is to unravel the mode in which liminal landscapes and liminal characters influence each other as well as an attempt at historizising the narrative constructions that take place on the fascinating and ambivalent border between the liquid and the solid state.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. A Cultural History of the Shore
2.1 The Christian Tradition
2.2 Antiquity and the Sea
2.3 The Invention of the Beach
3. A Theory of the Shore
3.1 The Shore in Philosophy
3.1.1 Carl Schmitt: Land und Meer
3.1.2 Jacques Derrida: Parages
3.1.3 Deleuze/Guattari: The Smooth and the Striated
3.2 Spatial Models of Text
3.2.1 Overview
3.2.2 Jurij Lotman: The Spatial Structure of the Artistic Text
3.2.3 Modifications of Lotman’s Model
4. Writing the Shore
4.1 Signs and the Self
4.1.1 Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe
4.1.2 Nathaniel Hawthorne: Footprints on the Sea-Shore
4.2 Dissociations
4.2.1 Oscar Wilde: The Fisherman and his Soul
4.2.2 Joseph Conrad: The Secret Sharer
4.2.3 Alex Garland: The Beach
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This study provides a comparative analysis of the shore as a cultural and literary concept, exploring how the topographical structure of land and sea serves as a model for creating meaning in narrative texts. The primary research question addresses the mutual relationship between the self and its environment, arguing that literary representations of the shore rely on a "floating meaning" that reflects human perceptions of order, identity, and the transgression of boundaries.
- The historical and cultural evolution of the shore from the Christian tradition to modern sea resorts.
- Philosophical theories of the shore, particularly the works of Carl Schmitt, Jacques Derrida, and Deleuze/Guattari.
- Spatial models of text based on the theories of Jurij Lotman.
- The thematic connection between the self and its surroundings in classic and contemporary literature.
- The concept of "dissociation" in narratives where characters are split between land and sea.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1.1 CARL SCHMITT: LAND UND MEER
‘Der Mensch ist kein Fisch und kein Vogel’, writes Carl Schmitt’, ‘und erst recht kein Feuerwesen, falls es solche geben sollte’ (Schmidt 1981: 7). Humans are tellurians, creatures of the earth. ‘Landtreter’, as Schmitt calls it. The solid ground on which we walk characterizes our movement and defines our scope of view. We call our planet ‘earth’ even though three quarters of its surface are covered with water. Yet still, when we stand at the coast, Schmitt wonders, we face the sea and not the land (see Schmidt 1981: 9).
Schmitt describes water as the site of myths and sagas, the birthplace and offspring of the human race. In mythic pastimes there have been, Schmitt continues, not only autochthonuous (land-born) people but also autothalassian (water-born) tribes, whose lives were dominated by the sea. The Autothalassians did not know anything about the solid land except that it was the border of their water world. Their whole existence, their thoughts and their language were related to the sea. Our tellurian notions of time and space would not have made sense to them. Some aspects of autothalassian culture have survived, Schmitt believes, on ‘islands in the south sea’, in the culture of ‘Polynesian mariners’, amongst ‘Kanaken’ and ‘Sawoiri’ (ibid: 10). The Autothalassians are opposites.
I discuss Carl Schmitt’s Land und Meer primarily because the text represents an outdated but important position in the discourse about the nature of the border. According to Schmitt, the border between the elements of Land and Sea is a two-dimensional line.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter outlines the comparative approach to the shore as a cultural concept and introduces the theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between topography and narrative meaning.
2. A Cultural History of the Shore: This section provides a historical overview of the ambivalent perception of the sea and coast in Christian tradition, antiquity, and the emergence of the beach as a site for leisure.
3. A Theory of the Shore: This chapter establishes the philosophical and structural tools for the study, covering the shore in philosophy and spatial models of literary texts.
4. Writing the Shore: The main analytical part of the study, which examines how specific literary works utilize the shore and the topography of land and sea to reflect on the self and internal dissociation.
5. Conclusion: This chapter synthesizes the findings, confirming that the meaning of the shore is historically contingent and characterized by its constant variability and association with transgression.
Keywords
Shore, Land and Sea, Literary Theory, Topography, Carl Schmitt, Jacques Derrida, Spatial Models, Jurij Lotman, Dissociation, Narrative Structure, Cultural History, Blue Cultural Studies, Transgression, Semiosphere, Romanticism.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper explores the cultural and literary significance of the shore, analyzing how the opposition between land and sea creates meaning in various narrative texts.
What are the central themes discussed in this work?
Central themes include the relationship between the self and environment, the historical perception of the sea, the concept of the shore as a border, and the literary depiction of character dissociation.
What is the primary objective of the study?
The primary goal is to demonstrate that the relationship between the self and the environment in literature is mutual, with the shore functioning as a space of "floating meaning" that enables structural and thematic interpretation.
Which scientific methodology is utilized?
The study employs a comparative, interdisciplinary approach, integrating historical analysis with philosophical concepts (Schmitt, Derrida) and literary spatial models (Lotman, Deleuze/Guattari) to interpret primary texts.
What topics are addressed in the main body of the work?
The main body covers the cultural history of the shore, philosophical theories regarding land and sea, spatial models of artistic text, and case studies of literature ranging from Defoe to Alex Garland.
Which keywords define this academic work?
Key terms include Shore, Topography, Dissociation, Spatial Models, Cultural History, and Narrative Theory.
How does the author apply Jurij Lotman's theory to the literary analysis?
The author uses Lotman's model of the semiosphere to identify how characters transgress borders between mutually non-intersecting subspaces of land and sea, which serves to create significant narrative events.
Why does the author choose these specific literary works for the study?
These works are selected because they represent different genres and historical periods while all utilizing the shore as a crucial topological element to depict either the construction of self or the dissociation of the subject.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Sebastian Stelzer (Autor:in), 2010, Writing the Shore, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/172464
