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On-demand recording
The History of Mermaids, Sea Spirits & Women
with Prof Diane Purkiss
£15
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What you’ll explore
- The mermaid through history — from Andersen and Disney to the sirens of antiquity, Melusine and selkies
- How folklore reflects wider social fears, desires and ideas of the “other”
- The symbolism of mermaids: danger, desire, transformation and freedom
- How modern reinterpretations keep reshaping what the mermaid means
About this talk
Why do mermaids continue to enchant us?
From ancient sea-spirits to Disney princesses, the mermaid has drifted through centuries of myth, art, and pop culture — shifting shape with our fears and desires. In this talk, Professor Diane Purkiss dives beneath the surface of the familiar tale to explore the deeper history of mermaid lore.
Together we'll explore what mermaids reveal about how societies imagine women, bodies and outsiders, ponder the strange opposition between the mermaid and the sailor, and look at 21st-century reimaginings — from colonial critique to queer and transgender symbolism — that show why the mermaid's spell endures.
A peek inside
Your speaker: Prof Diane Purkiss
Diane Purkiss is Professor of English at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Keble College. She has published on witchcraft, fairies, and the English Civil War — the occasion of England's biggest witch hunt. She has featured in more than a dozen television documentaries and speaks regularly at literary festivals and local history societies.
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