Oceans of feeling : an emotional history of Caribbean migrants in postwar Britain / Ryan Walmsley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walmsley, Ryan, author.

Series:

History of emotions (London, England)

History of emotions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Immigrants--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Immigrants.

Caribbeans--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Caribbeans.

Emotions--Sociological aspects.

Emotions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2026.

Summary:

"A groundbreaking exploration of postwar Caribbean migration to Britain, Oceans of Feeling offers the first historical analysis of this defining moment in modern British history using the tools, methods, and theories of the history of emotions. Decoding the emotional experiences and expressions of Windrush-era Caribbean migrants, this book reconstructs the migrant experience by asking not just what happened, but how it felt – individually and collectively – and how these feelings shaped and configured the course of historical events.Taking cues from spatial studies, the history of the senses, and the history of the body, Ryan Walmsley charts a rich and affectively meaningful course through the experiential content of the migrant condition in a specific historical moment. From the emotional bonds of the ‘Mother Country’ ideology to the unique affective-sensory atmospheres of transatlantic liners bound for Britain, Oceans of Feeling reveals exciting new dimensions to Windrush-era migration which have been masked under the canopies of social and political approaches.A reflection of the history of emotions’ power to revivify historical narratives, this book interrogates the emotional causes and consequences of racist violence. In doing so, it reframes racism as a cluster of specific emotional concepts and expressions, which provides fascinating insights into the lives of Caribbean migrants in this period. This includes linking the disproportionate designation of Caribbean children as ‘educationally subnormal’ in British schools to a constellation of emotional stereotypes and experiences. It also explores private spaces, such as dub and reggae house parties, which migrants constructed as emotional refuge from the hostile atmosphere of public spaces, and demonstrates how love and sex were politicised in the increasingly racialised atmosphere of postwar Britain"-- Bloomsbury Collections.

Contents:

Introduction : what have you done with our dreams?

Migrant emotivations

Departures, journeys, arrivals

Romance, family, childhood

Violence, fear, hate

Balms to the aching souls : Caribbean migrant parties as emotional refuge

Epilogue : the ghosts of Windrush past.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Online resource; title from home page (Bloomsbury Collections, viewed December 1, 2025).

Other Format:

Print version: Walmsley, Ryan. Oceans of feeling

ISBN:

9781350541726

1350541729

9781350541665

1350541664

9781350541658

1350541656

OCLC:

1520506761

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license