DEPICTIONS OF THE DEEP

What springs to mind when you think of the deep sea? The unknown? An alien space? Monsters, even?

Southampton researcher Dr Giulia Champion is posing this question about the deep sea as she examines our relationship with it.

Giulia, who joined the University’s English department in September 2022 amongst the first cohort of Anniversary Fellows, is rethinking our deep-sea thoughts.

She explained: “The deep sea is often seen as a frontier, or an alien space, which really separates us from the ocean, despite us having a strong relation with and dependence upon it. My research is exploring different ways to reconnect with the deep sea.”

She added: “I am also interested in the language around deep-sea mining. There is some fascinating and problematic language around how we ‘need’ it for our future because we could gather important minerals and metals for the green automotive industry. Some argue it would be more sustainable and less impactful to human beings than mining on land. But we don’t yet know enough about the impacts –environmental, economic, and social – of large-scale deep-sea mining. So, while some scientists are not ready to see deep-sea mining happening, many would prefer not to see a moratorium on the mining code happen as it may limit funding to explore the seabed.”

As part of her three-year Anniversary Fellowship, Giulia is considering tools and exhibits to encourage engagement with the deep sea.

“I would love to put together multi-sensory art exhibit that asks people to think through buoyancy and the lack of senses such as smell and the clarity of sight – which could potentially be achieved with virtual or augmented reality,” outlined Giulia. “The aim would be to connect us with the deep-sea though we cannot all reach it.” She is also keen to produce an interactive digital deepsea map, one that challenges mapping as a former colonial tool.

From Shakespeare to the deep sea

Giulia, who grew up in Rome and Geneva, came to England in 2015 to study a Master’s in Global Shakespeare at the University of Warwick and Queen Mary University of London.

She then completed her PhD at Warwick in 2020, looking at Caribbean and Latin American cultures and philosophy. “I was especially interested in the environmental context and how this very diverse region has been exploited by its neighbours in the north and Europe for centuries,” she explained.

Giulia looked at extractive practices in the Caribbean and Latin America, particularly around monograph plantation agriculture and oil extraction. She examined how art and literature represent these in relation to legacies of colonialisation and slavery, which has led her to researching similar questions in relation to the deep sea: how is it culturally represented, and how can we unlearn some of these perceptions and identify their development within colonial and imperial histories?