Reading Storied Corals with the Scientific Poetics of Water

Abstract

This essay argues that to understand coral communication, we need a new interpretive method that incorporates a creative insight into living oceans and aquatic species or a new conceptual viewpoint that considers their capacity for creative expressions, marking the coming-to-voice of their significance. Since this method combines scientific research and creative engagement with oceanic ontologies in a context where nonhuman languages, creative expressions, and stories compellingly shape the life worlds of all aquatic beings, I name it “the scientific poetics of water.” It allows us to read corals and all aquatic agencies as part of the collective semiotic creativity of life, as storied beings.