Abstract

This collection makes use of scuba diving as an entry point into an exploration of water as something that is both primordially familiar to human beings and at the same time an Otherworld of the kind figured in literature as far back as medieval romance and the Breton Lai. The dramatic impetus for the stories in my collection, as in romance, lies in the potential danger of the journey and by the very presence of human beings in a space that is not their own. In literature, water is often mediated by a variety of barriers and boundaries such as the limit of a boat or a submarine, or the surface of the water itself. To progress beyond these barriers generally means death. By exploring water in the context of scuba diving, these stories strip away much of this mediation and expose an experience that immerses the frail human body directly in this Otherworld. Thematically, this project is concerned with modern folklore and oral tradition, as well as wonderment, the sublime, the human experience in an “other” space, and the idea of generations connected to place (such as the Saint Lawrence) or to a medium (in this case, of course, water). These stories were inspired by personal experience, field research, and anecdotes told to me by the coldwater Canadian diving communities of Ontario and Quebec, especially the Montreal Aquanautes.