Experiences from the end of the world. 19th-century sealers and the “in-corporation” of the South Shetland Islands (Antarctica)

ANDRÉS ZARANKIN; MELISA A. SALERNO; MARÍA XIMENA SENATORE

Kalmar

Conferencia; Places, people, stories; an interdisciplinary & international conference; 2011

Linnaeus University

"The South Shetlands were the first region of Antarctica to be known. In the early 19th century, sealers (seal hunters) established a series of summer camps on Livingston and other islands with an aim to obtain oil and skins to be sold in a world market. Researchers frequently describe the early integration of the South Shetlands to modernity through a series of “cartographic” procedures. The latter stress the objectivation of space, while making it difficult to recognize the experience of working and living on a harsh new landscape. In this case, we provide a proposal for reintegrating the experience, and the relationships between the body (the material dimension of the person –sensu Fowler 2003) and the world in the South Shetlands. Thus, we discuss different tools for studying the “in-corporation” (sensu Warnier 2001) (the bodily engagement and practical understanding) of the islands. One of the first steps of our proposal is analyzing the ways in which people could have perceived and roamed through the territory, paying special attention to “sensitive” (sensu Besse 2006) or “agent” (sensu Yates 2007) spots in the landscape. The discussion of sealers’ experiences includes the analysis and interpretation of historical and archaeological evidence, as well as a fluid dialogue with archaeologists’ present experiences (the members of the International Project Historical Archaeology in Antarctica). The study finally discusses the potential and limitations of using the present to shed light on past experiences".