Sargassum in the Black Atlantic: Entanglement and the abyss in Bearden, Walcott, and Philip

Abstract

“Sargassum in the Black Atlantic: Entanglement and the abyss in Bearden, Walcott, and Philip” explores the figure of seaweed, particularly free-floating sargassum, as a model for conceptualizing transoceanic connections in the Black Atlantic. I present sargassum as a replacement for the concept of the rhizome, which fails to adequately function within an aquatic context since as a terrestrial metaphor the rhizome cannot capture the ocean’s fluidity and circulation. Replacing a terrestrial figure with an oceanic one allows for a richer understanding of connection and loss, since the migratory sargassum is able to conceptually entangle disparate cultures, while also attending to the histories, and gaps in histories, contained within the oceanic abyss. It is within this context that the article considers a variety of works, including Romare Bearden’s collage “The Sea Nymph” from the series Black Odyssey, Derek Walcott’s poem “The Bounty,” and M. NourbeSe Philip’s book-length poem Zong!.

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