“Suspended, I drift home”: Lessons from Jessica J. Lee’s swimoir Turning

Details

Supervisors

Bragard, Véronique

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres modernes, orientation générale, à finalité approfondie

Abstract

In a time marked by social acceleration and mass-production, turning to nature seems like a rather attractive prospect. Modernity has undeniably contributed to the loss of sensory experience, which led to a state of disconnection to the environment. This dissertation argues that Jessica J. Lee’s swimoir (portmanteau word of swimming and memoir), Turning, constitutes a way for its author to reconnect with her senses and a broader natural world. In the span of a year, Lee swims in fifty-two lakes around Berlin. Through the seasons, the author paves the way for a sensorial journey through German lakes, ultimately providing a collection of lessons that nature, but also the recovery of her own senses, can teach her. By examining the account of her haptic experience and using Hartmut Rosa’s concept of resonance, the present study intends to plunge into the materiality of the senses provided by Lee’s sensuous writing. This dissertation thus explores the ways a work of self-writing heals its author by means of sensory language, with its possibilities and limitations, and how it manages to convey the recovery of sensory experience through a two-tiered therapy rendered possible by swimming and writing.