Materiality Of The Ocean Flashcards
Who wrote monsoon traders
Bowen, Bylth and Macleer
What did Bowen Bylth and Macleer argue
That the East India company’s main function changed a lot over its life span. It went from a trading company to an administrative body in control of the Indian subcontinent
Which trade winds had what effects?
NE trade winds explain why first explorers landed in Brazil and outs America….. And the NE trade winds plus the equatorial current flows explain the route of the slave traders and slave ships. Drayton argument
What does Drayton argue are responsible for controlling human agency
Trade winds, currents, placement of landmass, freshwater reserves
Richard Drayton quote
“These maritime flows helped shape history”
Drayton empire quote
“Empires make history, but they do not exactly make it as the choose”
Size increase of EIC ships during 19c.
From between 500-700 tonnes too 1000-12000 tonnes
How else did ships change from the 17-19c.?
Got bigger
More guns from 26-56
Specialised cabin area
Different class travel different foods
Who’s article talks a lot about Madeira wine ??
David Hancock
When did transformation of Madeira wine take place
Between 1703-1807
What does the Madeira wine fiasco show ?
How the sea has agency over humans
In what ways was Madeira wine changed by the sea?
- Fortification with brandy
- Agitation from sea, made wine less ‘rough’ after fortification process. So the rougher the voyage the better
- ageing, so the longer the journey the better
- heating on journeys that went past the equator
David Hancock moat qoute
“Scholars now see the Atlantic as more of a waterway than a moat”
What does leora Ausslander study
Material culture
What are ausslanders main arguments
1) objects important because we use all our senses to understand things so why no history too
2) objects are not only the product of history, they are also active agents within it
3) most of history people have not used language, so make objects better to explain certain things / can explain better than words can
Post modernism . Literary turn
Whose article focouses on shipwreck narratives?
Margaret Lincoln’s
What was the most popular format for 18-19c. Shipwreck narratives
Eyewitness accounts
What are some of the Diffrent reasons that shipwreck narratives were written
Travel warnings,children’s tales, in case of emergency guides, public mourning .. To show social conventions of the time
What example shows how shipwreck narratives reinforced contemporary ideas of class and gender boundaries ?
“The loss of the Haleswell” 1803, and accompanying painting
Men got to safety, women stuck floundering uselessly on boat.. Captin standing in middle of boat with two young daughters,trying to save them,but unable to because of their clothing. Daughters white.p dresses symbolic of purity . Also of higher class than the rest of the other women, so of course they panic less .. This might have something to do with the fact that they are standing in the only fuckingfry patch if the boat
Actual event took place in 1786
What example can be used to show how shipwreck narratives were seen as displays of national character ?
The wreck of the medusa 1818 compare to wreck of Alsace in 1817
Medusa= French frigate, crashed because captin did not listen. When crashed captin left. Attempt to make rafts, not food on rafts, rest of crew members left on remaining life boats.others turned to cannibalism . Only 15 survived after 17 days
Alsace= british ship wrecked. Crew occupied island, and although they were repeatedly attacked by pirates they were abke to defend their position through good discipline until help arrived
What stereotypes are shipwreck narratives responsible for ?
Racial steryotypes
Men as drunk or very brave
Women as a hindrance
Margaret lincoln’s main argument
“Shipwreck narratives record moments in which social connections are tested in isolation from the conditions that normally support them”
What does frank trentman argue ??
That things are back in fashion
Trentman quote
“Things today are shaking our fundemental understandings of subjectivity, agency, emotions and the relations between humans and non humans”
What is ANT
Actor network theory . Bruno Katsura argument that things have agency
Bruno Latour quote
“Anything that does modify a state of affairs by making a difference is an actor”
Braudel .?
So in his book the Mediterranean Braudel argues that geographical time and social/ economic time are more responsible for events than human agency and intent. He argues that the sea should be seen as ‘many spaces’ and that it is important as its own actor
4200 seamen were estimated to have died by a contemporary source between which years
1750-1760
What is Bowens shipwreck estimate
That between 1760-1790 1038 ships set sail and only 51 failed to return which is only 5%
Other representations of the sea
Paintings
Satire
Ships logs
Journals/ diaries
What is Richard Drayton’s main argument
That the sea is responsible for where empires are formed. It is an actor and has impacted us. The sea is mostly responsible for the holding together of empire.
When was the reck of the medusa
1818
When was the wreck of the Alsace
1817
When was the wreck of the Haleswell
1803
Main historians
Richard drayton Bowen Bylth Macleer David Hancock Margaret Lincoln Braudel
How does Bowen Bylth and macleers book further Drayton’s argument
Drayton argues trade winds can be used to explain why Brazil and South America were the first places of imperial exploration .. The same principle could possibly be applied to some of the first points of contact with India eg. Bombay and Calcutta both sea ports on opposing sides of the India sub continent . Also important for trade routes to canton
BBM trade winds
Affected EIC . Strict time for departures (November and April) if correct winds were to be picked up in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean
