Abstract
Stories that foreground merpeople, sea creatures who have the capacity to become human-like or humans who are able to transform into some aspect of a sea creature, can be found in folktales throughout the world. The diverse array of climates and cultures demonstrates the human fascination with and fear of the great seas and their creaturely populations. The denizens of the oceans remain the most mysterious to humans and the most frightening, so tales of merpeople can be said to represent the diffident human alienation from the waterworlds. Ambivalence about the oceans resulted in the creation of merpeople stories, accounts of mysterious creatures of the land and sea who exist in a liminal status between the two worlds: they are or become humanoid to allay human misgiving about the mystery of the oceans, and to image the monstrous consequences of ill-considered behaviors. Sea creatures in general elicit human anxiety because they are among the earthly creatures the most distinct from humans: vocally and physically they appear ‘other’ than and foreign to humans (think of snakes). As such, stories of sea creatures with human attributes relieve anxieties, and the tales of humans who are aquatic hybrids or who become endowed with amphibian aspects are cautionary tales. My paper will offer a close reading of diverse folktales and stories about merpeople. Humans, in their quest for dominion on earth, realize that a conquest of the oceans might never be possible and so people fashioned tales of merpeople to negotiate discomfort over powerlessness.
Presenters
June-Ann GreeleyProfessor, Catholic Studies and Languages and Literatures, Sacred Heart University Fairfield, Connecticut, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
MERPEOPLE, OCEANS, FOLKLORE, GLOBAL CULTURES
