Oceans in Literary Imagination and Historical Consciousness

In Caryl Phillips’ literary imagination, the Atlantic Ocean “is both a place of horror and suffering, and a place of reflection and possibility . . . in fiction and non-fiction, I’ve crossed this ocean trying to stitch together Africa, Europe, and the Americas in my mind.” Historian Sugata Bose reminds us that down the ages, the Indian Ocean too, has figured as a shared cultural ecumene in literature and art. A conversation between these writers invites us to think about how migration, encounter, and exchange across oceans give meaning to the interconnected worlds in which we live.

Image: photograph by Chriss Aghana Nwobu

Simultaneous Arabic translation will be provided.

Moderated by

• Awam Amkpa, Associate Professor of Drama and Social and Cultural Analysis and Director, Africana Studies, New York University Abu Dhabi
• Gunja SenGupta, ​Professor of History, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York