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The Recipe for a Hero (Final Essay)

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In the chapter titled “The Great Old Hunter” from The Romance of the Faery Melusine, André Lebey creates a symbiotic relationship between humans and nature when describing nature as being “menacing and dangerous” because it is “full of the unknown” (Lebey 11). The dangerous quality of nature then formulates the need for heroes to protect the townsmen who are “huddled for comfort against their wives” as the dangerous creatures lurking in nature infiltrate the nearby village (Lebey 11). By intertwining nature and humanity, the text critiques the idea humans are separated from nature since the heroic persona and human virtue is built in the context of an environment that forces it to overcome threats and danger.

From the start of the chapter, Lebey begins to build the relationship between humans and nature when revealing that “They lived close to nature in those days, even in towns,” since the “Fields came right up to the walls and the forest was close by” (11). Right at the beginning of the story, nature is already becoming an integral part of the narrative through its close proximity to what is deemed as civilization. In this section, nature is not a faraway entity, but is a being that is interwoven into life within the village by explicitly stating that people “lived close to nature” and that it “came right up to the walls” of the town. It is not something that the villagers can easily ignore since the town is on the threshold of the forest. Whether it is for good or bad, the villagers develop in conjunction with the forest’s inhabitants because of their proximity. Here, the reader can see that every action of the townspeople or forest beings ends up directly impacting the livelihood of one another. Nature is then characterized as a neighbor to the town, as they exist alongside each other. Through this weaving of humans and the environment around them, Lebey is then able to create the perfect surroundings for someone like Count Aimery to exist. As a result of living so close to nature, Count Aimery is able to naturally become a hunter because he has direct access to nature on a daily basis. Count Aimery can then evolve and go on hunts due to the setting that Lebey places the town in, where humans live in a space woven with nature. One can then see how his life is shaped by his entanglement with nature since it gives him the basis to foster his skills to become “a great hunter” (Lebey 11). This forces the reader to take into consideration how nature influences the actions of those in that specific environment. Constructing the forest “close by,” the town transforms into a way for Lebey to showcase how influential nature can be in one’s life. It is not merely a place; rather, it is a force that can ultimately create the structure of a human life.

Knowing that the forest is nearby the village, Lebey then positions the forest and all those who inhabit it as “[…] menacing and dangerous, full of the unknown, concealing the surprising and the supernatural” (11). Before he even truly begins the story of the hunter, the forest is specifically defined as a place where evil lurks. By using words such as “menacing” and “dangerous” to convey the characteristics of this environment, it becomes something for the townsmen to fear and creates a sense of tension within the village since they live adjacent to the forest. Nature is not characterized as a passive being that simply exists, and instead is given a role as a perilous environment that is able to harbor these “unknown” and “supernatural” beings. The employment of the term “supernatural” also becomes vital since it creates the notion that not only is the village under threat, but it is under increased threat because the forest is essentially beyond the realm of this world. The reader then knows to be wary of this environment because it is being presented as an entity that can cause damage to the village and those who live there, since the actions of nature have an effect on those who live by its borders. Through the utilization of a hostile tone when describing the forest and the individuals that occupy it, the author leaves no doubt that nature is an evil force within the village because of the conflict it has created for them. In turn, when Lebey notes in the subsequent lines that “All along the bushes by the pathways the eyes of the lynxes burned, watching the old women, bowed under kindling” (Lebey 11), he continues to reinforce this threat of unearthly creatures on the community. Rather than the lynxes watching the old women, Lebey explains that their eyes were “burning” to evoke a sense of mysticism since it feels as if they have a fire behind their eyes that is not normally present within these creatures. The reader is now able to recognise the danger the villagers are in, knowing that these may not be normal creatures since the “burning” eyes of the lynxes are a mark of their “supernatural” qualities. Nature then transforms into the villain in the narrative by being an ever-present danger and frightening those who are merely trying to live their lives in town. It looms over the town as the townspeople are being watched by the “burning” eyes of creatures who call the forest their home.

Within the essay, “The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature,” author and historian William Cronon reveals the danger in thinking that humans are detached from nature. In particular, Cronon describes how it “embodies a dualistic vision in which the human is entirely outside the natural,” which then “[reproduces] the dualism that sets humanity and nature at opposite poles” (17). Cronon is directly mirroring what can be seen in Lebey’s narrative as they both seek to combine humans and the environment around them. Rather than seeing nature as something that is removed from civilization, both Cronon and Lebey  “embody” a line of thinking that places nature as something that is part of everyday life. Even early literature, such as the Bible, often depicts the wilderness as a grand fantasy where one must venture away from civilization and towns to be truly in nature. The environment then becomes this awe-inspiring entity that is devoid of any perceived human elements or interaction. In turn, it may create this detached feeling from this form of nature because it is outside the scope of what is deemed as civilized, since it is viewed as being formulated by “nature” itself. However, Cronon notes that this idealistic view of nature “gets us into trouble only if we imagine that this experience of wonder and otherness is limited to the remote corners of the planet” (24), illustrating how we do not need to actively seek out nature since nature can be as simple as a tree in a backyard or a flower in a garden. Subsequently, the separation between nature and humans is blurred when we realize that the wilderness is all around civilization. Applying this thinking to The Romance of Faery Melusine, one can then see that Lebey moves away from “dualistic thinking” about nature and humans by highlighting how close the villagers live to nature. The forest is not simply a backdrop for the story, but plays a pivotal role in the lives of the people living in the town. The constant danger nature presents because of its close proximity to civilization forces humans to interact with nature as they try to fend off any lurking danger. Instead of positioning nature as a distant entity, Lebey brings it to the forefront through its influence on the villagers’ daily life. Here, one can see how Lebey showcases the “wonder and otherness” of nature at the village’s doorstep as the forest’s creatures dangerously seep into the town. The close proximity of the forest to the village then heightens the intertwining of humans and nature that is depicted in Cronon’s essay, since these two entities are forced to interact within their daily lives. Thus, both texts serve to erase the boundaries between humans and the environment by illuminating how much these two entities interact with each other.

Towards the end of the passage, Lebey then explains that because of the evil nature of the forest, it is a chance to showcase heroic virtues since “[…] evil reigned only if heroes failed to confront its dangers. It seemed that one existed to give rise to the other, for humans do not show their mettle if left to themselves” (Lebey 12). Through these lines, Lebey takes on a more optimistic view of the forest by claiming that it was created to “give rise” to heroes as a way to protect the community and dominate over evil. He is then cementing the intertwining relationship between humans and the natural world through the idea that they cannot exist on their own. This highlights the idea that human heroics depend on the presence of evil because it forces them to play the role of the hero in order to protect the town and the “townsmen huddled for comfort against their wives” (Lebey 11). The fear of the creatures from the forest drives people from the village to step up and defend the villagers from these otherworldly beings. The reader then understands that having nature as a threatening force is not an inherently bad thing because it is a critical force in building human character. Without the dangers that the forest presents, there might not be an opportunity for humans to display their superiority since nature gives them something to fight against due to its evil characteristics. If everything is always safe, then there would be no need for heroes to protect people or showcase their might. In turn, Lebey essentially points out that it is a good thing that the villagers live so close to danger because they are able to showcase their “mettle” that would otherwise be hidden away. Despite the turmoil and anxiety that the forest brings to the village, it is this exact evil that allows for humans to embody the persona of a hero and showcase their excellence that would not present “if left to themselves.”

In the section “The Emergence of Environmental Humanities” from The Environmental Humanities: A Critical Introduction, Robert S. Emmett and David E. Nye highlight this very thinking when explaining how “a disconnected and isolated ‘thing’ or object does not and cannot exist. Rather, every object and being is defined by its relationships,” meaning that “It is part of networks and only has meaning in relation to its surroundings” (9). In essence, this dismantles the idea of a dichotomy between humans and nature by positing the notion that an entity does not exist alone as an “isolated thing,” but in tandem with its surroundings, since it only exists within the context around it. When using this perspective to look at the forest and village presented in Lebey’s story, it becomes impossible to see these two entities as separate from one another, since they do not exist as solitary individuals. Every action that these “supernatural” beings from the forest take directly impacts the lives of those living in the village. Lebey’s depiction of the forest as a threat is then dependent on its ability to destabilize the lives of the people living in the town bordering the forest. As a result, the forest is defined as “dangerous” because of its close proximity to the village. Much like Lebey, Emmett and Nye situate nature as a place where human personas can be formed and harbored since “Human beings are not independent of the natural world, but are part of it” (9), making them “an active part of nature” (8). It is through their relationship with the forest that allows humans to rise as “heroes” because of the direct threat that the forest and its creatures present to the townspeople. Therefore, Emmett and Nye help further cement the belief that someone like Count Aimery is not necessarily born a hero, but is molded to be a hero because of the circumstances that force him to rise up and defend the town from the beings that lurk around the borders and spill into the town.

The weaving of humans and nature throughout this chapter of The Romance of the Faery Melusine then serves to move away from the idea that they can exist separately, since the heroic identity is founded within the connection between humans and the environment around them. As opposed to thinking that humans form their identities in isolation without any exterior forces, Lebey asks readers to rethink this notion by formulating the idea that it is through this “menacing” and “dangerous” environment that Count Aimery and others are able to reveal their greatness by hunting these dangerous creatures. The same forest that is home to all things “unknown” and “supernatural” can also be the place where virtue and nobility is born. Subsequently, humans may not know the extent of their superiority without the presence of danger threatening their livelihood. The forest becomes integral to humans because through these experiences with evil and danger, it gives them the space to prove their worthiness.

Works Cited

Cronon, William. “The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” Environmental History, vol. 1, no. 1, 1996, pp. 7–28.

Emmett, Robert S., and David E. Nye. “The Emergence of Environmental Humanities.” The Environmental Humanities: A Critical Introduction. MIT Press, 2017, pp. 1-21.

Lebey, André. “The Great Old Hunter.” The Romance of the Faery Melusine. Translated by Gareth Knight, Skylight, 2011, pp 11-22.

Halloween Extra Credit

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For Halloween, I wanted to dress as a sailor since they are a critical part of mermaid stories and folklore. As we’ve discussed in class, stories about mermaids were often circulated by those who were constantly at sea. In order to make sense of what they had seen while at sea, they used mermaids to explain the myriad of sea creatures that they encountered during their time on the water. Plagued with tiredness and isolation, it was easy for them to mistake certain creatures for mermaids – making them believe that animals such as a manatee could be a mermaid. Sailors then become the eyewitnesses who recount their tales to those they come in contact with. These stories and folktales told by sailors are then the basis for some of the mermaid tales that we know and love today. In turn, stories such as “Odysseus and the Sirens” are possible because they are composed of the accounts that sailors had while on their voyages. While mermaid tales were being circulated long before it was simply a “sea tale,” sailors still hold a pivotal role in continuing the tradition of passing down these stories as a warning and explanation of what they have seen on their journey.

Final Thoughts

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At the start of this class, my knowledge of mermaids was very limited since it mainly consisted of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and H20: Just Add Water. Within the first week of class, I learned that mermaids have a rich and complex history that has been circulated for centuries. Literature such as Melusine, The Deep, and many others showed me that natural environments are as alive and vivid as humans, removing the passivity of nature and anthropomorphic ideology that was taught to me in previous classes. This helped me open my eyes to see that not only do humans hold history, but that nature itself is an archive of history that allows us to learn so much about a society when we look at its environment and the stories they tell about it. Looking at literature and stories about mermaids as a way to learn about the environment helps us connect to nature, since they are able to exist as a mediator between humans and nature as a result of their hybridity. These beings become more than just a mythical creature and transform into a representation of the problems that affect humans and the environment. 

Using mermaid literature from a multitude of different cultures also helped engage the idea that there are voices and histories that have been silenced since they don’t line up with a traditional Western idea of history. Looking at these other tales then gives marginalized communities a chance to be heard and recognized, since their history is often deemed as “folklore.” In turn, we are taught to look at the environment as more than just a backdrop and see that it is a place full of life worth conserving and learning from. Rather than simply learning from history books, we can look to nature as a way to discover more about ourselves and events from the past. Whether it’s the Ocean or a forest, this class has shown the importance of connecting to the environment and being grounded in nature as a form of learning. 

Besides highlighting how awesome mermaids are, the course has ultimately taught me that humans cannot and should not see themselves as separate from the environment around them. We exist in the context of our surroundings, and our actions have a direct impact on our environment. Subsequently, we must look at nature as being part of our lives since it’s something that we interact with daily. Seeing nature as a separate entity only serves to further destroy it since it is only viewed as a resource and not as a place full of history.

Final Essay Proposal

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Essay Proposal: After taking the feedback from peer review into consideration, for my final essay, I plan to close read “The Great Old Hunter” from Melusine and the poem “The Sea is History” by Derek Walcott. I’m going to borrow points from my second close reading of Melusine, where I explained that the chapter presents the forest as an evil entity within the community that then leads to the creation of heroes to protect the villagers. As a result, it highlights that humans exist within conditions of their environment that require them to overcome and adapt, which creates the heroic persona. I’m going to tie this into the poem “The Sea is History” since Walcott also weaves humans and nature together through the idea that the sea is a place of historical information about Caribbean history. This situates nature as a place where human identity can be formed and harbored because the sea holds narratives that help the people of the Caribbean understand histories that are often erased. I will also be bringing in the texts “The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature” by William Cronon and “Blue Humanities” by John Gillies as my scholarly sources. I think that both texts help strengthen the idea that humans are not separated from the environment around them but that it influences human identity by moulding their lives. These academic texts blur the boundaries by showcasing how the environment is not independent from humans and that they coexist together, which will hopefully help aid me in my close reading of the two creative texts.

Working Thesis: Within the chapter titled “The Great Old Hunter” from The Romance of the Faery Melusine by Andre Lebey, he interlaces humans and nature by depicting the forest as a place of danger that allows for the emergence of human bravery to arise. Similarly, “The Sea is History” by Derek Walcott continues this weaving of humans and the environment by characterizing the sea as a record of the history of Caribbean peoples. In both texts, the intertwining of humans and the natural environment positions nature as an entity that shapes human identity to then help move away from the belief that humans are independent from the environment.

“Who Is That Girl I See?”: The Search for Identity as a Form of Resistance

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In chapter 5 of The Deep by Rivers Solomon, the text explores the complicated relationship between identity and history as Yetu struggles to find herself and create a personal identity apart from being the historian and an archive of the struggles the ancestors of the Wajinuru had faced. The fight for identity and autonomy becomes an important part of the narrative because it helps serve as a form of resistance by not letting the trauma and collective history of the slave trade be the single element that defines who Yetu is as an individual.

While stuck in a small pool onshore, Yetu explains to her new friend Oori that it might not be a bad thing if one is not consumed by history because “Before, [she] was no one. When you’re everyone in the past, and when you’re for everyone in the present, you’re no one. […] [She] didn’t exist” (Solomon 95). It is here that Solomon posits the idea that it is dangerous for identity to be solely constructed of a traumatizing history. When Yetu was a vessel for “everyone in the past” as the historian, it essentially erased her personhood. She existed as a way for the past to emerge into the present and not as an individual who had needs. Despite her role being an important one in the community, Yetu as a person “didn’t exist” because she was only defined by the memories that she carried inside her. She is then positioned as a lost individual because she is constantly weighed down by the “Six hundred years of pain” (Solomon 94) that she is holding on to. It is no wonder then, that her subsequent rejection of her role as Historian becomes a way for her to explore who she is outside of the suffering of her ancestors. Yetu takes a bold act by moving away from being “just a shell for their whims” (Solomon 94) to an entity that is complex and multifaceted.

Yetu’s struggle with personal identity then transforms into a way to resist the narratives that try to define enslaved people and their ancestors solely through a painful history. By noting that her role as an archive of “everyone in the past” made her “just a shell” for the Wanjinru to use for their benefit, she is rejecting the same subjugation that her ancestors on the Middle Passage endured, since they were not given the ability to engage their autonomy and explore their own personality. This passage about the complexities of identity is then a form of resistance because it widens the narrow confines in which Yetu exists as a Wanjinru and allows for the expansion of what it means to be a Wanjinru through the idea that individuals can be more than their trauma. This then allows Yetu and her people to stop the cycle of oppression and suffering by not allowing it consume their personhood.

Final Project Research

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As of now, I’m leaning towards using “The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature” by William Cronon for my final essay. To work on the essay, I want to research more academic texts about the creation of national parks and how they were created. This will help me gain a better understanding of the circumstances upon which they formed, to then frame the idea that “Wilderness” is based on human fantasies and ideals about what nature truly is. It highlights the notion that the perception of “Wilderness” is often on a grand scale and is seen as something that is usually out of the ordinary for most people, a place that is the antithesis of civilization and humanity.

Furthermore, I would also like to look into academic texts that explore more about how nature in urban environments helps connect humans back to “Wilderness.” I think this will help showcase that nature is truly all around us, making the idea of the wild arbitrary since the same elements of the “Wilderness” can be found in places that are seen as civilized. Nature and humans then become something that are interwoven together since they both exist in the same environment. This then complicates the idea that urban areas are simply for humans by illuminating the many ways in which nature is able to survive in places where humans exist in close proximity to nature. Researching more about nature in urban settings also helps show the importance of caring for nature in our cities since it is a sliver of the “wild” in our own backyards. Caring for the environment transforms into something that is part of daily life, making it more manageable for people to sustain and to live in tandem with the nature that surrounds them.

I also plan to reread the text to further strengthen my understanding of the reading in order to argue my point more clearly and accurately. As I read, I will also take notes so that I can close read a selected passage to the best of my ability and choose lines that will best accompany my argument.

Water Spirits as History

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In the section titled “African Mermaids and Other Water Spirits” from The Penguin Book of Mermaids, the authors highlight the idea that these water spirits are part of a long history and become a way to learn more about African culture. By looking to water spirits as a way of gaining knowledge about a community, it de-centers the Eurocentric view of learning as something that has to be scientific and come from a traditional historical account.

What stood out to me specifically was the description of the Yoruba people of West Africa and that “When the Yoruba peoples were captured during the transatlantic slave trade, they brought their worship of Yemoja [the water deity] with them” (Penguin 166). Rather than simply seeing the water deity Yemoja as being “associated with family, women, motherhood, and the arts” (Penguin 166), she becomes interlaced within the pain and suffering that many of the Yoruba and West African peoples were subjected to by colonial powers. Her migration from West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean can then be seen as a testament to the forcible movement they faced as they kept the belief alive through the continuation of her memory for many generations. She essentially allowed them to keep their heritage and connection to the homeland during a time of increased stress and torment. Subsequently, Yemoja is a figure who provided comfort at a time when Yoruba people were being treated as if they were not human, and oftentimes did not have many ways to cope with the lack of humanity that they were given. By looking at Yemoja as not just a water spirit but as a chronicle and archive of the history of the Yoruba people, she becomes a historical figure that allows us to dive deeper into a narrative that is frequently silenced due to a lack of traditional historical knowledge.

Looking at water spirits as a method for learning about a culture is then significant because it moves away from a Eurocentric perspective that views history as something that is visible and concretely recorded. This moves mythologies away from a fictional realm and into a historical realm by acknowledging that these myths and beliefs are based in reality and come from lived experiences that are significant to a culture. We can then use these myths as a way to bridge the gap between a western account of history and those who are left out of those written and preserved accounts of events.

The Making of a Hero

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In the chapter titled “The Great Old Hunter” from The Romance of the Faery Melusine, André Lebey creates a symbiotic relationship between humans and nature when describing nature as being “menacing and dangerous” because it is “full of the unknown” (Lebey 11). The dangerous quality of nature then formulates the need for heroes to protect the townsmen who are “huddled for comfort against their wives” as the dangerous creatures lurking in nature infiltrate the village (Lebey 11). By intertwining nature and humanity, the text critiques the idea that humans are separated from nature since the heroic persona and human virtue are built in the context of an environment that forces them to overcome threats and danger.

From the start of the chapter where the great hunter Count Aimery is introduced, Lebey positions the forest and all those who inhabit it as “[…] menacing and dangerous, full of the unknown, concealing the surprising and the supernatural” (11). Before he even truly begins the story of the hunter, the forest is specifically defined as a place where evil lurks. By using words such as “menacing” and “dangerous” to convey the characteristics of this environment, it becomes something for the townsmen to fear and creates a sense of tension within the village. Nature is not characterized as a passive being that simply exists, and instead is given a role as a perilous environment that is able to harbor these “unknown” and “supernatural” beings. The employment of the term “supernatural” also becomes vital since it creates the notion that not only is the village under threat, but it is under increased threat because the forest is essentially beyond the realm of this world. The reader then knows to be wary of this environment because it is being presented as an entity that can cause damage to the village and those who live there, since the actions of nature have an effect on those who live by its borders. Through the utilization of a hostile tone when describing the forest and the individuals that occupy it, the author leaves no doubt that nature is an evil force within the village because of the conflict it has created for them. In turn, when Lebey notes in the subsequent lines that “All along the bushes by the pathways the eyes of the lynxes burned, watching the old women, bowed under kindling” (11), he continues to reinforce this threat of unearthly creatures on the community. Rather than the lynxes watching the old women, Lebey explains that their eyes were “burning” to evoke a sense of mysticism since it feels as if they have a fire behind their eyes that is not normally present within these creatures. The reader is now able to recognize the danger the villagers are in, knowing that these may not be normal creatures since the “burning” eyes of the lynxes are a mark of their “supernatural” qualities. Nature then transforms into the villain in the narrative by being an ever-present danger and frightening those who are merely trying to live their lives in town. It looms over the town as the townspeople are being watched by the “burning” eyes of creatures who call the forest their home.

Further down in the passage, Lebey explains that because of the evil nature of the forest, it is a chance to showcase heroic virtues since “[…] evil reigned only if heroes failed to confront its dangers. It seemed that one existed to give rise to the other, for humans do not show their mettle if left to themselves” (Lebey 12). Through these lines, Lebey takes on a more optimistic view of the forest by claiming that it was created to “give rise” to heroes as a way to protect the community and dominate over evil. He is then cementing the intertwining relationship between humans and the natural world through the idea that they cannot exist on their own. This highlights the idea that human heroics depend on the presence of evil because it forces them to play the role of the hero in order to protect the town and the “townsmen huddled for comfort against their wives” (Lebey 11). The reader then understands that having nature as a threatening force is not an inherently bad thing because it is a critical force in building human character. Without the dangers that the forest presents, there might not be an opportunity for humans to display their superiority, since nature gives them something to fight against due to its evil characteristics. In turn, Lebey essentially points out that it is a good thing that the villagers live so close to danger because they are able to showcase their “mettle” that would otherwise be hidden away. Despite the turmoil and anxiety that the forest brings to the village, it is this exact evil that allows humans to embody the persona of a hero and showcase their excellence that would not present “if left to themselves.”

The interlacing of humans and nature throughout the narrative then serves as an important moment to move away from the idea that they can exist separately, since the heroic identity is founded within the connection between humans and the environment around them. As opposed to thinking that humans form their identities in isolation without any exterior forces, Lebey asks readers to rethink this notion by formulating the idea that it is through this “menacing” and “dangerous” environment that Count Aimery and others are able to reveal their greatness by hunting these dangerous creatures. The same forest that is home to all things “unknown” and “supernatural” can also be the place where virtue and nobility are born. Subsequently, humans may not know the extent of their superiority without the presence of danger threatening their livelihood. The forest becomes integral to humans because, through these experiences with evil and danger, it gives them the space to prove their worthiness.

Archive of the Sea

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At the beginning of Derek Walcott’s poem, “The Sea is History,” the poet rethinks the idea that history is solely confined to land by noting that the sea holds remnants of history and can act as an archive of historical events. The sea becomes a history book that catalogs the many incidents that have occurred on or around the Caribbean waters. This shift in viewpoint becomes significant because it gives a voice to those who have long been silenced by the denial and erasure of Caribbean history as a result of not being seen as tangible or documented as other Western narratives.

Right from the start of the poem, Walcott begins questioning the definition of history by asking people of the Caribbean where their “monuments,” “battles,” “martyrs,” and “tribal memories” are (1-2). Here, Walcott engages with the traditional idea of history as something that is recorded on land and has concrete artifacts to solidify its validity. History is limited to things that have written accounts or artifacts that people can study and inspect. However, Walcott repositions this outlook when answering the question in the subsequent lines as he notes that Caribbean history is “in the grey vault” (3), also known as the sea. Rather than history being found in museums or archived on paper, “The Sea is History”(Walcott 4) and contains the narrative of Caribbean ancestry. The audience is no longer in the realm of traditional Western history since it becomes something that is written in the waves and below the water. Their identity is intermingled with the sea that witnessed the suffering of many of their ancestors and is the resting spot of those who were thrown overboard before they could be sold into slavery in a new land, making their bones the “mosaics” (Walcott 14) that become the artifacts of Caribbean history. Walcott embraces a more inclusive view of history that encompasses the environment as a place where humans can find out more about historical occurrences, since nature has been a constant throughout history. Looking at history through this environmental lens allows us to uncover the stories and histories of people who have been left out of more traditional narratives because of a lack of tangible history. We are then able to get a fuller picture of history since it becomes more inclusive with the addition of historical stories that have been locked in “the grey vault.” They are brought out from the depths of the sea to showcase how these communities do have a history and are not confined to a Western account of Caribbean history.

The Ocean as a Battleground

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In the short film Sirenomelia, Emilija Škarnulytė moves away from an anthropocentric view of the environment by using a mermaid to explore an abandoned military base to interlace history within the environment in which it takes place. Through this de-centering of humans, it removes human domination over historic narratives and gives other entities the agency to tell history from their point of view.

The use of a mermaid to explore the ruins of a military base from the Cold War helps rethink the notion that history is limited to humans by viewing the remnants of the base through a non-human perspective. Specifically, the scene of the mermaid swimming around structures connected to the base (Škarnulytė 3:50) showcases how human technologies often impact the environment around them. Rather than solely focusing on how human activities impact other humans, the film shifts perspective to another entity to show us that humans do not exist on the Earth alone, and that what we do is not limited to implications that just affect humans. Škarnulytė allows us to see history from a different perspective and how events like the Cold War make an impact on the environment around it. The militarization of the aquatic environment doesn’t just affect humans, but also the beings that exist in that environment, who now have to deal with the aftermath of these deteriorating structures. It is the mermaid that is in control of what the audience sees as we flow through the different settings with her. Humans become the spectators as we watch the mermaid swim through the decommissioned base, making the mermaid and the environment that surrounds her the main characters of the film. The environment is no longer a passive being as it illuminates the marks of human ambition that have been inflicted upon it.

This new perspective forces humans to reassess their ability to use the environment as they see fit since the environment and those who inhabit it are not immune to its effects. Simply because the sea has remained constant doesn’t mean that it’s not constantly changing below the waves and full of life. It’s not an endless resource that humans can utilize for their own benefit without any consequence. Having a mermaid display how nature is stamped with human domination gives the audience the capacity to rethink the belief that nature and all those who inhabit it are separate from human history and conflicts. Nature is not a submissive entity that is immune to these repercussions, as it showcases throughout the film how the human desire to pillage leaves scars on the environment and those who live within it. In turn, this complicates humans’ ability to view the environment solely as a resource because the film brings to light the idea that nature is alive, allowing it to feel the ramifications of human domination over the environment.