Author Archives: Naomi Mireles

Discovery Essay: Julnar the Mermaid

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Naomi Mireles 

ECL 305 

Professor Pressman 

3 March 2024 

Julnar the Mermaid and Her Son Badar Basim of Persia are first seen in The Thousand and One Nights, also known as The Arabian Nights. This story is deeply rooted in Middle Eastern folklore and contains Indian, Persian, Arabic, and Jewish Traditions (Bacchilega, 171). Our narrator, Shahrazad, tells the story of a seaborn princess who goes by the name of Julnar who flees her home in the sea after a falling out with her brother and although she misses them greatly, she forbids herself from returning. Julnar is sold to King Shahriman in Khorasan. Before Julnar, King Shahriman was known to own many women, though he was sad because none of them would bear him children, and he feared there would be no one to inherit his kingdom. Instantly, the King is infatuated with Julnar and perceives her to be the most beautiful woman, so much so that he gives up his many concubines. The assertion of control is symbolic of the unequal power dynamic between the two, where Julnar finds herself subject to the King’s ownership and authority despite her autonomy as a powerful sea princess. This is perceived from their first encounter when the King purchases Julnar where possession is asserted. Although later in the story, a year after Julnar is silent, she develops genuine care for the King, their relationship is founded on control and limitations imposed upon her by the king, which in turn emphasizes the coercive nature of the relationship, which prompts the reader to rethink conventional and individual understandings of love and relationships. 

At the story’s beginning, the king’s power is evident from the moment Julnar appears at his door as a slave. The king immediately takes possession of Julnar and claims her as his own. The unequal power dynamics between the two are reflected in the king’s assertion of control over Julnar and are continuously reinforced by his position of power as king. Despite Julnar being of a relatively high class in her realm, this is disregarded as this information is unknown to the king, while outside of her natural environment, she does not hold much power or authority, not even over herself. The king’s desire to dominate and control Julnar is evident in the early stages of her arrival, “When everyone was gone, he took off his clothes and disrobed her with his own hand..So he lay down next to her and began making love.” (Bacchilega,175). The language used to describe this encounter is seemingly one-sided, it does not say “they” made love, it is evident that this was taken, not given, especially since Julnar did not speak until a year into their relationship. Throughout the narrative, the king’s possessiveness reflects entitlement, where love becomes synonymous with ownership and control. 

The romanticization of control and manipulation is depicted in Julnars willingness to sacrifice her agency for the King and his affection. With his desire to have a child, Julnar puts his desires over her own of returning to the sea to be with her brother and mother. Simultaneously, Julnar relinquishes her independence and power as a mermaid princess to comply with the king’s demands, which perpetuates a narrative where love becomes synonymous with submission. Julnar’s silent asset normalizes the manipulative tactics seen by the king. Despite her initial hesitation, she eventually succumbs to the king’s advances and desires under the pretext of love. The forms of manipulation and use of power as a king and higher social status depict harmful ideals of love where coercion is romanticized as an expression of affection. 

Over and above that, the king’s manipulation of Julnar is seen through his exploitation of her vulnerability. He takes advantage of Julnar’s desire for acceptance and belonging, milking his emotions to manipulate her into fulfilling his desires. This manipulation reinforces the narrative’s underlying themes of power imbalance and control within their relationship.

Julnar the Mermaid shares a narrative in which themes of power, control, and manipulation are unveiled. The king’s dominance over Julnar is symbolic of the unequal power dynamics within romantic relationships. Through the king’s tactics, a normalization of coercion and manipulation is perpetrated which reflects harmful ideals of love where manipulation overshadows love and respect. For example, the king’s initial reaction to assert ownership of Julnar reflects societal norms where women were viewed as nothing more than possessions to be owned and controlled by men. The idea of love as possession is further imposed on the reader as the king confines Julnar to his environment which strips Julnar of her agency in the search and longing for external love and affection. On top of this, the story shines a light on the timeless expectation of women to prioritize the desires and wishes of men over their own. Julnar’s satisfaction with the king despite her hesitation highlights the societal pressures upon women to prioritize the needs and wishes of their partners even at their own expense. 

The romanticization of control and manipulation within Julnar’s relationship with the king reflects broader modern and cultural attitudes and ideas of love and relationships. Julnar the Mermaid, while a fascinating and captivating story, also challenges the nature of love and power in our society. In delving deeper into our story, the layers of coercion and manipulation from the king allow us to gain insight into the complexities of human emotion and the journey for connection and romantic love.

Citations

Bacchilega, Cristina. Penguin Book of Mermaids. Penguin Publishing Group, 2019. 

Post Human Entanglements in Contemporary Poetry

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Dr. Antje Schmidt’s talk on post-human entanglements in contemporary poetry taught me several things. Still, one of the things I felt was most relevant to me and our class was regarding the importance of political and cultural situations occurring at the time certain things are written and published. During her presentation, she focuses on the work of Carla Cerda who is a biologist, poet and author of Loops. Loops is a series of poems all connected and intertwined with one another, where both the author and reader are included in this sort of journey up and down an elevator which seem to represent many different scenarios.

In one instance, Dr. Antje Schmidt pointed out the relevance of one poem and how Cerda took a real life issue that occured regarding lithium mining, and how it affected flamingos. In the poem, there is a line where she talks about the lithium shining on the feathers of flamingos. I felt its important because if I would’ve read this poem it might hav caught me off guard to see her talking about flamingos, but when looking at the context in which the world was in at the time it makes a lot of sense.

In learning this, so far it has helped me think and do some research on other literature I may be consuming, especially in our class. Since a lot of the texts we read, are not modern, i think this was helpful in showing me how important it is to look at the background of literature and see what important events were happening at the time to understand the relevance of said literature.

The Little Mermaid and the parallels of an Immigrant Experience

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When reading Chris Hans Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, many things came to mind, including the barriers of humans and nature, and things like sacrifice and selflessness. The little mermaid sisters and family were the one thing I could not stop thinking about when and even after finishing. It is clear that the little mermaid upon leaving was in distress and knew she would miss her sisters, her grandmother, and her family in general,”, now that she was dumb and was about to leave them forever. Her heart seemed ready to burst with anguish.” (pg123, Bacchilega). One of the many glimpses of sacrifice in our story is that she continues to leave her family and home behind, hoping to find love with our human prince.

After reading, I asked myself why I could not stop thinking of the sisters she left behind and how now being a daughter of the air, could not return to see her family. It reminded me of a story all too familiar. Growing up as a first-generation Mexican-American, it was exactly the story of my parents and their siblings. Leaving a country, in this case, the sea, for better opportunities, for the mermaid the chance of “true love,” and never being able to return. The Little Mermaid experience parallels the dreams and aspirations of many immigrants looking to leave their homes. A few other parallels I noticed were the struggle with identity, cultural assimilation, and sacrifice. The main one I would like to expand on is the yearning for belonging. Like the little mermaid, immigrants, and the children go through life feeling the same longing, being caught between two cultures and not feeling fit for either of them. In one sense there is a desire to return home, like the little mermaid longing for her sisters or family, but on the other hand, there is a stronger desire to pursue your opportunities and assimilate to a new culture.

The Little Mermaid to me, served as an allegory for the complexities of the immigrant experience. Which I greatly appreciated, and was definitely caught by surprise.

Week 5: Melusine

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The importance and significance of beauty, attraction, and femininity are all things I have seen and observed in this class. The Faery at the Fountain engraves this in me even deeper, while these things were of importance in this tale, there were also other obvious aspects that I have not seen in stories before. I would like to say this story reminds me a lot of the damsel in distress trope, but the roles are reversed. Raymondin is on the run and seemingly lost when the faery Melusine comes to what seems to be his rescue. While the roles are reversed from what a typical story usually shares, Melusine did not emasculate Raymondin, at least not in my eyes but I am not exactly sure why. “It was always she, indeed, who led.” (p29). Since it is their first time meeting, it leads me to think that Raymondin is not the first nor last man with whom Melusine shares this type of encounter. In the lens mermaids, they both share this sort of enchanting and hypnotic entity, where the men simply cannot resist their beauty and in return the woman, in this case Melusine gives them some sort of knowledge or information. This is what we have seen in the case of mermaids and sirens, it’s interesting to see that faeries also carry this sort of captivating power. Another thing I noticed was the femininity of Melusine and how much of her hair is emphasized, “Then she began to comb it, and as he admired the fine silky, deep tresses he saw the wooden comb that had ran through them..” This was one of the similarities I noticed between the way both Melusine and mermaids have been depicted.

Week 2: Merpeople

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Reading this text, I was able to see and decipher many new meanings of the symbolization of a mermaid that I had never seen or thought of before. While some and most ideas I read about were fascinating, there was one mentioned around the beginning of the introduction that caught my attention. “Humanity maintains a tenuous balance between wonder and order,civilization and savagery.” (Vaughn,9). While the text goes on to explain and share the origin of mermaids and merpeople, this concept stayed with me throughout. It made me question a couple of things, along with humanity and just what it means to be a “human.” Since this was mentioned, it made me think of the fine line between human and monster, or animal, when it comes to a mermaid. What this might mean for humans, and made me think that maybe there is also a fine line for humans between humanity, empathy and monstrosity (whatever that may mean for everyone individually). While I wasn’t surprised by the sexualization of mermaids, I was disappointed. The fact that even as mythical creatures, women can’t seem to catch a break from men, is overwhelming. Mermaids we’re seen as derivatives of beasts, and we’re to blame for men’s lust, which was another thing that was upsetting. While learning of these origins might’ve not been the ones expected, it was interesting to learn how mermaids can hold so much symbolization and significance, when I had never thought of it before.

Introduction

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Hi! My name is Naomi and it is my third year here at San Diego State. My major is sustainability, and so far I have enjoyed almost all my classes. I took this class because I saw the description of the course and was immediately intrigued! Mainly all my classes so far have revolved the environment in some type of way, so when I saw this one available I thought it was the perfect chance to try something somewhat out of my comfort zone and learn something new.

Outside of school, I like to go to the gym and the beach. I love swimming in the ocean and just hanging around the water. This summer I would love to get my scuba diving certification. After graduating I would love nothing more than to work in ocean conservation, the details of my plan are not yet finalized, but I’m excited to be in this class and continue my education!