The Deep

The deep is at once a tragic and hopeful symbol. It represents the buried histories, secrets, and tragedies created by the violence of the transatlantic slave trade and the vibrant life that has survived such brutal conditions. The ocean itself was often featured in 18th- and 19th-century art and literature about the transatlantic slave trade for its destructive and life-giving capacities. It was the sight of blasphemous “burials” of enslaved people who were discarded by enslavers on their journey through the Middle Passage. The ocean has been an especially significant symbol for the culture of the African diaspora.

Zoti initially brings the zoti aleyu down toward the ocean floor because it better protects the “strange fish” from the various threats posed by two-legs and other oceanic predators. In this dark and distant place, she is able to imagine and create the architecture of a new society that is grounded in new principles. She buries the secret of their origin, holding it within the figure of the historian, and creates an almost utopian society that takes in all the ocean’s castaways, all those that have been discarded by the two-legs and abandoned by the surface dwellers. The zoti aleyu are unified by their shared history and their determination to create a better world for each other.