PASSAGE TO INDIA? CONTESTED MEANINGS OF WATER IN THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Panel Chairs:
Dan Fyfe (Universidad de La Laguna)
Víctor Junco (Universidad de La Laguna)
From as far back as Columbus and the European expansion across the Atlantic during the "Age of Discovery," to the expedition of Lewis and Clark in the early days of the Republic, and up to the present waves of immigration into the United States, oceans and rivers have propelled adventurers in search of promised lands, fountains of youth, and American dreams. But stark conditions on the ground have rarely been idyllic: from the Puritan William Bradford's vision aboard the Mayflower of a "howling, desolate wilderness" to the dire "middle passage" of African slaves to the dismal experiences of the "huddled masses" of European immigrants passing through Ellis Island to the beleaguered "wetbacks" testing the waters of the Rio Grande, utopian visions of American plenty have too often turned out to be horrific realities of pain and suffering. This panel invites proposals that explore the relationship between water and disillusion in the American experience.
We would like to take a Cultural Studies approach with this panel, and invite presentations that examine the relevance of water--and disillusion--to the idea of an American identity
Suggested topics:
- Water as a frontier, water as a social barrier, water and the American dream, or water and the immigrant experience.
- Significant cultural representations--in film, television, music, literature, etc--that address the theme of the panel.