The role of the whaleboat in the maintenance of a maritime engagement in the Azores

Abstract

In 1984 the lnternational Whaling Commission moratorium on the hunting of whales was implemented in the Azores by the Portuguese government. A priori, this ban seemed to put an end to one of the most emblematic and meaningful ways in which Azoreans engaged with maritime spaces. In this thesis, however, 1 explore the role played by the whaleboat -the bote baleeiro- in such engagement, not only before 1984 but also afterwards, emphasizing how whaling and the material culture associated to it remains a central piece in the Azorean collective memory of their connection to the sea. To do so, 1 examine this type of watercraft at three different levels: firstly, asan object in itself; secondly, as a process of engagement; lastly, asan extended entity-phenomenon. 1 collected the data that underlies and provides substance far my interpretations during three successive visits to the archipelago that I conducted in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively. Throughout the fallowing pages, articulated both around my own voice and those of the people that I interacted with in the Azores, the bote baleeiro reveals itself not only as the catalyst, but also the embodiment of Azorean maritime engagement itself, creating through practice a continuity in space and time -or rather, a continuous space and time- required far such engagement to take place.

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