Anita Baksh

This research project, “Human and Marine Mammal Kinship,” aims to investigate the history of whales and whaling in the US context through a residency at the American Antiquarian Society. It asks: How were whales perceived in colonial and early America? Why were whales valuable and how were they used during this period? How did whales strategically resist captivity? These research findings will be connected to contemporary creative writing on whales by Caribbean American writers Alexis Pauline Gumbs and Rajiv Mohabir. Drawing on research on the history of whales and their interactions with humans, as well as on real life observations of marine mammals, watching and carefully listening to their sounds and vibrations, these authors create memoir and poetry, respectively. Their texts explore questions such as: What can whales teach us about survival and the ways in which humans move in and through the world? How do humans and marine mammals fighting against extinction adapt to dire circumstances and prolonged possibilities of harm? The project will examine how Gumb’s “Undrowned” (2020) and Mohabir’s “Whale Aria” (2023) employ whales as means to explore human migration and colonial experiences.