The Captains: Between Myth and Legend, Article and Anecdote
The Captains: Between Myth and Legend, Article and Anecdote
This chapter builds upon Ray Cashman’s work on character anecdotes at wakes in Northern Island, and starts by defining the term for this study in relationship to both the Big Stories covered in the previous chapter and the concepts of “legend” and “personal experience narrative (PEN).” In addition to providing a history of passing the leadership role between generations, specific character anecdotes are used to develop individual pictures of the captains, reflecting both personalities, biographies, and historical contexts. Themes arise that not only differentiate the captains, but also highlight tradition and change in the captain’s role and relationships to the Big Stories: authority within and about the fishery; stubbornness, commitment, stability; gentleness; spirituality. Discussion includes crew members’ and others’ views of captains as models of positive behaviour, who are heroic in the sense that they are both admirable and very human.
Keywords: character anecdote, leadership role, personality, captain, spirituality
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