“We are the lost”: Recovering the Feminist and Transcultural Complexity of Mermaids in Literature Dreamy Mermaid by Pradip Goswami Laurence Julie Schaack Supervisor: dr. Barnita Bagchi Second reader: prof. dr. Helena Houvenaghel RMA Thesis Comparative Literary Studies 26 June 2018 26 June 2018 Laurence J. Schaack 5818419 RMA Thesis Comparative Literary Studies Supervisor: dr. Barnita Bagchi Second reader: prof. dr. Helena Houvenaghel 26 June 2018 Abstract Among the many fantastical creatures, the mermaid figure has fascinated writers and artists throughout the ages. The representation of the mermaid figure tends to be consistent: grounded in Western heritage, the mermaid’s alluring beauty and sexualised body are overtly stressed and confine her to a place of objectification. However, such a reductive representation of her femininity and her cultural roots does not do justice to the mermaid’s complexity and paints a monolithic understanding of her figure. Moreover, the connections between mermaids and women exacerbate the implications of such a reductive paradigm. Thus, this project studies the feminist and transcultural complexity of mermaids in literature. The aim is to counter the mermaid’s objectification and to create more complex meanings for her figure. Therefore, this project centres on the mermaid figure in different literary genres, including The Arabian Nights, Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s Undine, Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, Kamila Shamsie’s Broken Verses and Imogen Hermes Gowar’s The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock. This work will undertake a comparative analysis of the mermaid figure in these works, reading her through a French feminist framework. This project shows that the mermaid figure in literature challenges her objectified and monolithic representations. It is through her irrational and liminal means that the mermaid figure contests the rational, phallogocentric order. Such a feminist opposition is recurrent in all the studied primary works and thus strengthens the mermaid’s transcultural place. This project aims to broaden the traditional place of fairy tales by stressing the interconnectedness of realist and fantastic fiction. 1 Laurence J. Schaack 5818419 RMA Thesis Comparative Literary Studies Supervisor: dr. Barnita Bagchi Second reader: prof. dr. Helena Houvenaghel 26 June 2018 Acknowledgments First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor dr. Barnita Bagchi for her guidance, the many helpful meetings and her constructive feedback. Thank you for believing in my abilities to push harder than I thought I could and for giving me the necessary creative freedom. I would also like to thank my second reader prof. dr. Helena Houvenaghel for helping me to develop the idea for this project and for her unfailing support throughout the two years. Also, I would like to thank my two friends Leonie and Elena. Without your encouraging coffee talks and our many laughs in the canteen, I wouldn’t have finished this programme, let alone this project. Thank you, Andy for your moral support and for listening to me when I needed it. In general, I’d like to thank all of my friends and family members who helped me to persevere. Trini, this final thank you goes to you. You have no idea how much you inspired me and how much I appreciated our exchanges in Frankfurt, Utrecht and other cities. One day, we’ll write our mermaid book. 2 Laurence J. Schaack 5818419 RMA Thesis Comparative Literary Studies Supervisor: dr. Barnita Bagchi Second reader: prof. dr. Helena Houvenaghel 26 June 2018 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 4 i. What is a Mermaid? And Where Does She Come From? ........................................................... 7 ii. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................. 14 iii. Primary Corpus ...................................................................................................................... 20 FIRST CHAPTER: THE MERMAID’S SILENCE IN FAIRY TALES .............................................. 23 i. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 23 ii. Fairy Tales as a Genre ............................................................................................................... 24 iii. Julnar’s Silent Agency ........................................................................................................... 26 iv. Mermaids as Utopian Ideals? ................................................................................................ 31 v. The Little Mermaid’s Aerial Empowerment ............................................................................. 35 vi. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 42 SECOND CHAPTER: ELEMENTAL PASSIONS IN UNDINE ......................................................... 44 i. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 44 ii. Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué : the “Don Quixote of Romanticism” ........................................ 46 iii. The Undine Figure ................................................................................................................. 52 iv. Undine’s Ambivalent Ontology ............................................................................................ 55 v. Undine, Huldbrand, Bertalda : a ménage à trois ? .................................................................... 59 vi. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 66 THIRD CHAPTER: THE MERMAID AND FRACTURED IDENTITIES IN SALMAN RUSHDIE’S AND KAMILA SHAMSIE’S NOVELS............................................................................................... 67 i. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 67 ii. Salman Rushdie’s Ambiguous Feminism ................................................................................. 70 iii. The Mermaid Figure in The Satanic Verses .......................................................................... 74 iv. Kamila Shamsie’s “decentred perspective” on Pakistan ....................................................... 81 v. The Mermaid Figure in Broken Verses ..................................................................................... 84 vi. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 89 FOURTH CHAPTER: DECONSTRUCTING THE “FEMININE FAKERY OF MERMAIDS” IN THE MERMAID AND MRS HANCOCK ............................................................................................... 90 i. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 90 3 Laurence J. Schaack 5818419 RMA Thesis Comparative Literary Studies Supervisor: dr. Barnita Bagchi Second reader: prof. dr. Helena Houvenaghel 26 June 2018 ii. Women’s Place in Georgian London ........................................................................................ 94 iii. Patriarchal Categorisation of Mermaids ................................................................................ 98 iv. Angelica as a Mermaid Figure ............................................................................................ 101 v. Transcultural Challenge of Gendered Categories .................................................................... 105 vi. A Liminal Alternative to Patriarchal Discourse .................................................................. 108 vii. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 112 CONCLUSION: RECOVERING THE MERMAID’S MEANINGS ................................................. 114 i. Summary ................................................................................................................................. 114 ii. Bringing the Mermaids Together ............................................................................................ 119 iii. Final Thoughts ..................................................................................................................... 124 WORKS CITED .................................................................................................................................. 126 INTRODUCTION Barney: “Marshall, do you know how the myth of mermaids came to be?” Marshall: “Sorry, myth?” … Barney: “You see every woman, no matter how initially repugnant, has a mermaid clock; the time it takes you until you realise you want to bone her. Sure, today, you see Iris as a manatee. But she ain’t gonna stay that way. Marshall, your secretary’s mermaid clock starts right-