The Hold Before Ypres: Amiri Baraka and the Invention of Atmosphere

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Description of a slave ship

4th Floor Linkway, John Medley Building, University of Melbourne.

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The Hold Before Ypres: Amiri Baraka and the Invention of Atmosphere

Amir Farshad Shirzaei (University of Melbourne)

  • Wednesday 23 September, 4:00-5:30pm
  • 4th Floor Linkway, John Medley Building, University of Melbourne

Abstract

In this paper, I examine how Slave Ship: A One-Act Play (1978) by Amiri Baraka uses scent to build suspense. As Baraka specifically requested incense, sea scent, dirt, filth, and more—all building to what he subsequently refers to as a "total atmosfeeling"—the staged atmosphere was the primary focus of the slave-ship hold. By comparing these guidelines with Peter Sloterdijk's description of the biochemical assault at Ypres in 1915, the birthplace of modern atmospheric warfare, I contend that Slave Ship implies an alternative genealogy, given that the control of air and breath on board the slave ship is centuries older than Ypres. The intention is to analyze olfactory dramaturgy in relation to the politics of a racially stratified environment.

Amir Farshad Shirzaei

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Amir Farshad Shirzaei is a theater scholar and practitioner currently residing in Australia and pursuing a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies. His research focuses on the olfactory and sensory aspects of theater, namely, the ambiance, the communal air, scenography and the material and political conditions that make the production of theatrical spaces possible. In his active research and practice, he is exploring the understanding of theater beyond visual and textual paradigms, particularly through the interactions among bodies, spaces, and atmospheres. His current research considers smell not only as a dramatic device, but as a physical force that shapes audience perception, performance and social dynamics of theatrical experience.