Slowing Down Mobilities: Passengering on an Inter-war Ocean Liner

Abstract

This article contributes to recent work on the figure of the passenger and ‘passengering’ in mobilities research. It does so by considering the experiences of one passenger over two journeys on an ocean liner undertaken in 1930. The article ‘follows’ the passenger over the course of the two journeys in order to open up the processuality of passengering. The article makes two core contributions. First, it demonstrates the need to lend attention to the specific socialities and materialities of mobile modalities that work on and form the passenger. It is shown how specific assemblages come together at sea to create atmospheres that shape the experiences of long-distance travel over water. Second, by following the passenger over the course of journeying, it demonstrates the emergence of the passenger in relation to shifting affective atmospheres, not as a static figure but one of becoming passenger, as a shifting set of subjectivities, and, in turn, shows the value of ‘following’ a journey within mobilities research.

Keywords:

• passenger
• passengering
• ocean liners
• long distance
• mobilities
• affect
• atmosphere
• materialities
• socialities
• processuality
• inter-war

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Ruth Craggs and Alan Lester for commenting on drafts of this paper, and to two anonymous referees for their suggestions. All helped to greatly improve the paper.