Motherhood, Marriage, and Swimming in the Sea

This article explores women’s relationship to the sea and contributes with a gender perspective to Humanistic Ocean studies. In Swedish author Sara Stridsberg’s novel Happy Sally (2004) and Norwegian author Inger Bråtveit’s Dette er også vatn (2018), the themes of motherhood and marriage are connected to the motif of swimming in the sea. The texts include memories, diary entries, and essayistic thoughts of the narrators, as well as excerpts from other authors. Swimming in the sea is interpreted by the narrators as a metaphor for the desire to transcend the life as mother, daughter, sister, and wife, while simultaneously reminding of their responsibilities to others and the surroundings. Swimming is understood as a process of mourning, that contributes to the acknowledgment of human finitude.