Archipelagic thinking in the Indian Ocean world : the story of 'Sindbad the Sailor' and Alan Villiers's Sons of Sindbad

This project focuses on the travel literature produced through the Indian Ocean world of the dhow trade. It examines the medieval story of "Sindbad the Sailor and Sindbad the Porter" alongside the 20th century travel narrative Sons of Sindbad (1940) written by mariner and author Alan Villiers. Both texts engage with the ocean and the ways in which immersion in the watery world result in an uneasy sense of hybridization. In "Sindbad", the sailor's world is represented as a place of deep encounter that renders him indelibly changed and so sets up a paradox between home and away. His voyages and adventures, while often explored purely in terms of their fantastic value, depict an Indian Ocean world that is densely connected through trade and travel. Alan Villiers' narrative uses "Sindbad" as a trope and signifier for this world and through him seeks to rekindle the romance of the free sea and pure-sail that is encroached upon by maritime modernity. Villiers constructs himself as a citizen of the sea and so straddles an uneasy line between the Arab sailors and his own colonial affiliations. It is a position that means he is constantly narrating from a perspective that is simultaneously inside and out. This minor dissertation will look at the way in which travel narratives located in the Indian Ocean render the subjects foreign to themselves and how the sense of identity flux engendered through the tales shed light on and open new paths for enquiry, what I have called archipelagic thinking, focusing not on constructed borders but connectivity across time and between disparate locations.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Hofmeyr, Andrew James

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Samuelson, M A

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20693

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20693