"'Port Dick, near Cook’s Inlet’, by Henry Humphrys"

In this scene, the Alutiiq Indians are dwarfed by the landscape and sky. Not only are they subjected to the surveillance/discovery of Captain Vancouver, but their smallness of scale, and the absence of any mention of human presence in the short title, perhaps hints at their merely temporary occupati...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: OTTO, P, Nedeau-Owen, A
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: University of Maryland 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11343/190563
https://www.rc.umd.edu/gallery/about/editorial-board
Description
Summary:In this scene, the Alutiiq Indians are dwarfed by the landscape and sky. Not only are they subjected to the surveillance/discovery of Captain Vancouver, but their smallness of scale, and the absence of any mention of human presence in the short title, perhaps hints at their merely temporary occupation of the scene. Several questions arise: does their exoticism enhance or undermine the sublime? Moreover, is this a Kantian sublime that highlights mind over nature or a Burkean one that insists upon the physiological experience of pain and pleasure? In this scene, the Alutiiq Indians are dwarfed by the landscape and sky. Not only are they subjected to the surveillance/discovery of Captain Vancouver, but their smallness of scale, and the absence of any mention of human presence in the short title, perhaps hints at their merely temporary occupation of the scene. Several questions arise: does their exoticism enhance or undermine the sublime? Moreover, is this a Kantian sublime that highlights mind over nature or a Burkean one that insists upon the physiological experience of pain and pleasure?