{"id":143,"date":"2016-09-15T01:00:02","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T05:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/?p=143"},"modified":"2016-09-15T12:48:24","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T16:48:24","slug":"lucas-acheson-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/2016\/09\/15\/lucas-acheson-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Authenticity of Place: The Essence of Maine Lobstermen"},"content":{"rendered":"

In class the other day, Ben urged us away from thinking about place by the terms of a phenomenologist. The key word there was \u201cessence\u201d. However, I think there is something important behind this infinitely complex word. In my American Studies Theory seminar last year, we studied Karl Marx\u2019s critique of capitalism, in which he also uses the term essence. In his ideal society, a person\u2019s career, or their output\/production in the world, should be their entire livelihood. In other words, it is one\u2019s essence, or what makes that person who they are. Presuming there is a diverse spectrum of jobs within this ideal society, then everyone can lead a passionate and fulfilling life, with a true \u201cessence\u201d of being. While Marx\u2019s argument\/vision is undoubtedly full of holes and does not exist today, there is a reason it is still being studied to this day. His vision holds a certain level of value, and after reading Acheson, a life of lobstering seemed to fit into what Marx was trying to get at.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter arriving home, most fishermen do an errand or two connected with their fishing business. Following supper they might call friends to swap information on prices, catches, and the weather, and finally, before going to sleep, turn on the radio for news of wind and weather\u201d (Acheson 22). The passion of a lobsterman\u2019s workday extends into their home life. There is no divide between work and play. This is a myth within the world of lobstermen. While their success is undoubtedly tied to economic markets, the Maine lobster fisherman is not tied to \u201cthe office clock, governmental bureaucracy, or society\u2019s expectations\u201d (2). Instead, the life of a lobsterman is tied to the land itself. To the sea. To the coast. To the environment. A lobsterman fulfills this idea of authenticity tied to place that we were trying to get at in class. Certain careers under the scope of capitalism may be affected by place, and exist in places as we understand them, but they are not dependent on the space, or the land itself. Lobstermen are tied directly to the land and the weather. Their specific jobs shift according to seasons, weather, and the changing of the environment. Their essence is derived from the physical space, making their relationship to it pure. Lobstermen epitomize authenticity in the scope of place. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In class the other day, Ben urged us away from thinking about place by the terms of a phenomenologist. The key word there was \u201cessence\u201d. However, I think there is something important behind this infinitely complex word. In my American Studies Theory seminar last year, we studied Karl Marx\u2019s critique of capitalism, in which he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[329829],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}