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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...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of English Language and Literature
2016
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| _version_ | 1867613250252701696 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Hofmeyr, Andrew James |
| author2 | Samuelson, M A |
| author_browse | Hofmeyr, Andrew James Samuelson, M A |
| author_facet | Samuelson, M A Hofmeyr, Andrew James |
| author_sort | Hofmeyr, Andrew James |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | 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. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20693 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:08.525Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | Department of English Language and Literature |
| publisherStr | Department of English Language and Literature |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/20693 Archipelagic thinking in the Indian Ocean world : the story of 'Sindbad the Sailor' and Alan Villiers's Sons of Sindbad Hofmeyr, Andrew James Samuelson, M A English Language and Literature 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. 2016-07-25T11:29:10Z 2016-07-25T11:29:10Z 2016 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20693 eng application/pdf Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | English Language and Literature Hofmeyr, Andrew James Archipelagic thinking in the Indian Ocean world : the story of 'Sindbad the Sailor' and Alan Villiers's Sons of Sindbad |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Archipelagic thinking in the Indian Ocean world : the story of 'Sindbad the Sailor' and Alan Villiers's Sons of Sindbad |
| title_full | Archipelagic thinking in the Indian Ocean world : the story of 'Sindbad the Sailor' and Alan Villiers's Sons of Sindbad |
| title_fullStr | Archipelagic thinking in the Indian Ocean world : the story of 'Sindbad the Sailor' and Alan Villiers's Sons of Sindbad |
| title_full_unstemmed | Archipelagic thinking in the Indian Ocean world : the story of 'Sindbad the Sailor' and Alan Villiers's Sons of Sindbad |
| title_short | Archipelagic thinking in the Indian Ocean world : the story of 'Sindbad the Sailor' and Alan Villiers's Sons of Sindbad |
| title_sort | archipelagic thinking in the indian ocean world the story of sindbad the sailor and alan villiers s sons of sindbad |
| topic | English Language and Literature |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20693 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hofmeyrandrewjames archipelagicthinkingintheindianoceanworldthestoryofsindbadthesailorandalanvilliersssonsofsindbad |