Author Archives: Nellie Murphy

Week 7- Merpeople From the Perspective of Western Capitalism

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After reading the excerpt, “Freakshows and Fantasies” from Merpeople: a Human History, I began to see how to concept or “promise” of merpeople in the 19th century was often used for capitalist gains. “In the keenest examples, the mermaid specimen of American sea captain Samuel Barrett Eades and the American showman P. T. Barnum’s ‘Feejee Mermaid’ both created cultural frenzies that attracted droves of paying onlookers (Scribner 125).” As sightings of mermaids and tritons became prevalent in the press, more and more people were increasingly intrigued and attracted to the idea of catching a glimpse themselves. So much so that they were willing to pay to see these creatures as if they were circus acts. As these stories of ancient Asian legends were being misinterpreted and fetishized in the West, they were also apparently aiding in business opportunities. It also did not come to a halt with the newfound perspectives of scientists. “Public exhibits and ‘freak shows’ continued to entertain clamouring audiences across both countries (Scibner 125).” No matter what, entrepreneurs (of sorts) would continue to promote and sell the chance to witness a “freakshow,” and onlookers with money to spend were all the more willing to experience something magical.

These customers may not have been aware, but if they had ever heard the ancient tales and myths of these hybrid creatures, they would be aware that they were a force to be reckoned with and maybe not seek them out. The moral of many of these Japanese stories that took the Western world into a frenzy was to steer clear of merpeople and certainly not to get too close. Yet with all of that being said, people had money to spend and a thrill to chase.

Humans have a long history of spending money on anything and everything, especially in the West, but also in such daredevil ways. People pay money to jump out of airplanes or get chased at a haunted house. These 19th-century merpeople enthusiasts don’t seem all that crazy when you think about what people will spend money on now, but they do prove to be part of a history of American Capitalism. They took part in the exploitation of not only a mythical creature, but a culture. The men who orchestrated these sideshows manipulated the public and their need for entertainment. They also dismissed the cultural and religious aspects that accompanied what they “promised,” and they made money doing so. Unfortunately, they would not be the last of their kind.

The seas and horizons are one in the same, forever forcing us to question our known world.

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In Steve Mentz’s passage, “Deterritorializing Preface,” he introduces his audience to a new vocabulary, not only to acquaint his readers with the language of the ocean, but to integrate it into the “land language” (of sorts) that we use every day.

What caught my attention the most out of these seven vocabulary words was Horizon. Every other word introduced had been changed. Water from ground, flow from progress, seascape from landscape, except for horizon “(formerly horizon).”

We have always associated the word horizon with the unknown, and in the case of humans, the unknown has always been and still is the ocean. For much of human history, all we had to tell us of where we were and where we were going were our senses, most importantly, vision. The horizon is the farthest distance our eyes can behold, and we have constantly chased that place. The horizon calls to us even more because it is often associated with the ocean. That stark flat line of blue waters that merges with the sky is enticing because it seems to span forever, and we are just as curious as to what lies beyond it as we are to what lies beneath it. We use phrases like “broaden our horizons” when we refer to bettering ourselves or gaining knowledge, because when we chase horizons, we leave behind the world we know in the hope of discovery. Mentz states, “Can horizon be a metaphor for futurity that spans green pastures and blue seas? I imagine horizons as sites of transition…” (Deterritorializing Preface XVI) Of course, there is no true “place” where the sky meets the sea, but it is attainable through progress, or as Mentz would call it, flow. This transitional space, upon which we chase the sun to the edge of the water, is where we expand our comprehension of the planet we call home.

We look to horizons also for markers or points of new beginnings or of memories. “Early modern
European sailors heading into the Atlantic spent days looking out for the unmistakable silhouette of Tenerife’s volcano, which signaled impending arrival at the Canary Islands” (Deterritorializing Preface XVI.) The landmarks that jet out in contrast to the vast sea are signs of hope and life. On a canvas of mysterious waters that make up most of this earth, land on the horizon not only gives us bearing, but the promise of a habitable place.

Week 3: The human obsession with mermaids, the unknown, and ourselves

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In reading Cristina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown’s “Introduction: The Stories We Tell about Mermaids and Other Water Spirits” (Penguin, ix-xxii), I found that humans’ never-ending obsession with merfolk and hybrid humanoids comes from our obsession with ourselves. Ancient stories of mermaids and their deadly power may be proof that we feared these aquatic beings because they were mysterious and terrifying monsters, but I think they induced so much fear because we knew humans to have conscious minds. Minds capable of free will to be harmful or evil. A large animal, we can kill with no forethought or deep fear, but a clever mermaid who is just as capable of killing us, that’s what’s scary. Those same human minds and capabilities are also what attract us to merfolk. We can’t help but be curious about what it means to be human to merpeople and to desire connection with them. As much as it entices us, “we humans do not deal well with betwixt or between” (Brown xi). We like our boxes and labels, and having clear lines drawn. We don’t want to mix, or at least we are taught that we don’t want to mix.

Wanting what we cannot have seems to be a timeless and universal trope for us humans. Lacking the ability to live in the ocean and the constant threat of death by drowning make us all the more curious. We crave the knowledge of the seas because we physically can’t experience it. Like the forbidden fruit, we want something even more when we are told we cannot have it. What lies beyond in the unknown, beyond a human-centered world, consistently calls to us.
It is so strange to me how humans are capable of being so fearful yet so enthralled and attracted to something at the same time. Nowadays, we sit at home and watch things like murder mysteries and documentaries in order to feel that fear. We also watch them because we are so intrigued by what we do not know or understand.

Sightings and encounters with Merpeople, Crazy or Conscientious?

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From a modern, Science-based perspective, this massive influx of merpeople sightings mentioned in the introduction seems to be a kind of mass hysteria, or an obsession with grasping at the unknown. Men traveling the Atlantic and Pacific seas may have been losing their minds, but what if they weren’t? The human mind is certainly capable of creating illusions or hallucinations, but the ancient sea, which is still widely untouched, may be holding more than we may ever know. Did they see an actual human-fish hybrid? probably not, but they could have seen creatures beyond their comprehension or get crazy weird vibes off the water they were sailing. Word of mouth and drawings on maps were all they had, and influenced them in their travels. If the greatest of minds during this time period were so invested in understanding these merpeople and the New World, then why shouldn’t it be considered science?

Nellie Murphy Introduction

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Hi! My name is Nellie Murphy, and I am a junior studying Marketing here at SDSU! I am from Denver, Colorado, but I absolutely love it out here in SD. I plan to study abroad this upcoming spring semester in Milan, Italy! As a dual citizen of Europe, I would love to live and work abroad after college as well. I love to ski and skateboard, I really enjoy yoga, and I obsess over TV shows like Stranger Things, Lost, and The Office. I am very close with my sister Iris, who just graduated with a degree in environmental sciences, and I chose this class because it sounded like something she would like.

I am excited to be part of this really interesting class, and hope not only to expand my knowledge of mermaids, mermen, and ancient stories of hybrid “monsters” but also to improve my writing, close reading skills, and rhetorical strategies.