Antarctica holds the key to our planet, in terms of nature: ice, glaciers, seas, astronomy, biology, and climate change. However, not everyone relates to research in glaciology or astrophysics. We need to get more people fascinated by Antarctica, in order to effectuate positive transformation, such as protecting the environment and decelerating climate change. We cannot underestimate the intrinsic value of the humanities: Antarctica shimmers in delight, offering something for everyone: poetry, theater, novels, short stories, films, documentaries, and more. Across the globe, there are very few researchers specializing in Antarctic literature and language. Existing scholarship is scant, but a corpus is building, with an increasing number of critical articles and books (e.g., Leane, Antarctica in Fiction: Imaginative Narratives of the Far South, and Kelman, ed., Antarcticness: Inspirations and Imaginaries).
Our session opens with Ellen Cressman Frye, who explains that many people have put into verse their thoughts and feelings about Antarctica, and their poetry touches on both joy and sorrow. Ranging from early examples of Antarctic poetry, such as Palmer’s “Thulia: A Tale of the Antarctic,” 1843, and Wilson’s “The Barrier Silence,” 1911, to contemporary poems, we see the joy of love found in Antarctica (multiple poets, Love Songs for Antarctica, 2012); religion of Antarctica (Lleshanaku’s “Homo Antarcticus,” 2018); and the nature of Antarctica, including animals, astronomy, and ice (Michael Leach’s “The Plight of the Adélie Penguin,” 2019). These poems incorporate suffering, such as grief or climate change itself, and also express hope and joy: hope that people become better stewards of our planet and pure joy at seeing Antarctica’s magnificence. Poetry plays an extraordinary role at connecting people to the heart of the matter: to protect Earth, its resources, and environment, we must do better, and the first step is to learn about Antarctica, thereby cultivating an attitude of caring and desire to take action.
Moving from poetry to prose, Heidi Lawrence analyzes the YA novel, The White Darkness, in which the character Symone has been silenced for much of her life by her “Uncle Victor,” who emotionally manipulates Sym, constantly questions what she says, and treats her as unintelligible. Victor drugs Sym, leaving her near-deaf, rendering her vulnerable to poor treatment by others who believe her to be uneducated. Sym retreats inward, trapped in the imposed silences, but slowly uses silence and sound as tools to break free from abusive treatment, because of her ability to speak clearly in her mind to Titus Oates, a member of the Scott Antarctic expedition, about whom she has read extensively. Through this imagined friendship, Sym breaks through her wall of silence, becoming the hero of her own story, using her reading expertise about “the Ice” to rescue herself from Antarctica and ultimately from the isolation and silence in which she has been cocooned.
To close our session, Daniel Abdalla presents on Antarctic theatre, including references to activist groups such as Climate Change Theatre Action, which deploy drama to foster dialogue about climate change. Drawing on insights from theatre and science, as well as archival work at the Scott Polar Research Institute, he recovers the history of Antarctic theatre, arguing that since the 19th century, engagement with Antarctica on stage represents a neglected area of the relationship between modern drama, science, and empire. He analyzes diverse Antarctic plays in relation to their political and ideological contexts, including South Polar Expedition (1841); Nabokov, The Pole (1923); Kushner, Angels in America (1993); and Adebayo, Moj of the Antarctic: An African Odyssey (2006).
With Antarctica as the unifying theme and three 18 minute presentations representing different literary genres, we expect to have robust discussion, as this is the first session at an M.L.A. Convention dedicated to Antarctica. As we hope to re-align the spotlight of academia back to include the humanities, Antarctica is a magnificent starting place: sharing the stage with the natural, physical, and social sciences comes instinctively to environmental humanities and other noteworthy approaches, such as these presentations. It is a propitious moment for M.L.A. to recognize, celebrate, and promote the field of Antarctic Humanities, and what better way than by revealing the fascinating writings about this amazing place!