A maritime turn and ocean ontologies in critical heritage studies

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper calls for a maritime turn in critical heritage theory. Drawing on recent work on ocean and maritime ontologies, it takes up the idea of the ‘ocean in excess’ to argue for a maritime imagination that overcomes the separation of land from water, culture from nature. The paper begins by sketching out the terracentric norms that have come to underpin critical theory around cultural heritage. From there, recent insights on ocean ontologies are cited to show how they can open up new ways of thinking about existing strands of critical heritage work. The second half of the paper turns to the issue of ocean governance and the complex politics that arise from competing ontologies. This provides the foundation for a discussion of the transoceanic heritage discourses that are now emerging, as countries seek regional, come global influence in world affairs. Understanding these and other developments requires moving beyond the earthly, such that we more robustly engage with a multivalent heritage politics that operates across air, water and land.