Philippine E-Journals

Ontology, Materiality, Metaphor, and Transgression: Oceanic Imaginings in Gremer Chan Reyes’s Selected Stories

Joanne V. Manzano

 

Abstract:

The ocean is typically represented in creative works as a passive, unfathomable, terrifying, and antithetical space. But such depictions can be somewhat lacking if formed from a terrestrial point of view. Drawing on history and geography, selected works of Gremer Chan Reyes were analyzed to illustrate the significance of the ontological, material, metaphorical, and transgressive sea. The paper argues that understanding the fluid and moving nature of the ocean can enrich literary representations.