Hearing the Living Metaphors: A Response to Serpil Oppermann’s “Storied Seas”

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In this paper, we evaluate Serpil Oppermann’s “Storied Seas and Living Metaphors in the Blue Humanities” as a turning point in the theoretical development of ecocriticism. Oppermann’s application of her own theory, material ecocriticism, in the reading of the water bodies that entwine the biological and the textual, situates material-ecocritical undertakings as a landmark of the ecocritical map. The well-known metaphor of the wave, used in explicating the growth of ecocriticism, was replaced by the metaphor of the rhizome in an earlier essay by Oppermann herself. By affirming both metaphors as valid, we argue that Oppermann’s 2019 Configurations essay initiated the fourth wave of ecocriticism and showcased what it means to follow a rhizomatic pattern. In our response, we take Oppermann’s open call to hear the voices of marine creatures as an invitation to explore the limits of the environmental humanities and seek to push our ocularcentric academic borders. Developing a new framework to study the soundscape of the ocean, we intend to literally hear the voices of marine entities (provided to the reader/audience through QR codes) and investigate what kind of new narratives might emerge out of this experience.