Abstract

This essay takes Nikola Tesla's proposal to weaponize the sea itself as the starting-point for an examination of changing perceptions of the ocean wave at the turn of the twentieth century. Focusing on a trio of maritime tales by Rudyard Kipling and Morgan Robertson, it argues that the ‘routinization’ of sea travel, coupled with historic developments in communications and technology, prompted these writers to explore the multiple significances of sea-journeys interrupted by monstrous waves.

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