2023-06-22 23:10:47
A tragic shipwreck and an impossible romance. In 1997, director James Cameron brought these two elements together to bring the drama of Titanic to the big screen. Since then, the story of the largest ocean liner in the world at the start of the 20th century and the refrain of My Heart Will Go On have resonated in everyone’s mind. The wreck is regularly visited by tourists and treasure seekers, maintaining the myth. On June 18, five passengers left to discover it aboard the Titan submarine, which disappeared at sea. After intense searches, the debris of the submersible was finally found near the wreck of the Titanic, this Thursday, June 22. The passengers died after a “catastrophic implosion” of the aircraft, announced the American company OceanGate Expeditions.
This news again shines the spotlight on the Titanic. Already, during its shipwreck, in 1912, it fascinates. It was the largest liner in the world at the time and was presented as unsinkable. He left the British city of Southampton on April 10 to join New York. Five days later, it sank after hitting an iceberg. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew, nearly 1,500 perished. “The event immediately sparked a great media frenzy”, explains to L’Express Antoine Resche, historian and president of the French Titanic Association. In 1912 alone, three films were produced on the subject: Saved from the “Titanic”, In Nacht und Eis and La Hantise.
Of course, the sinking shocks by the number of dead. But “it is not the deadliest in history”, specifies Antoine Resche. In 1937, the Wilhelm Gustloff sank after being torpedoed, killing more than 5,000 people. The dead also number in the thousands during the sinking of the Cap Arcona in 1945, without the precise toll being known. Another example: the Doña Paz, which sank in 1987, again with thousands of people missing. “But the Titanic disaster occurred in peacetime, unlike those of Wilhelm Gustloff and Cap Arcona, which sank at a time when the dead were raining down, notes Antoine Resche. There is also the phenomenon of “death -kilometer” [NDLR : principe selon lequel on accorde plus d’importance aux événements qui se déroulent à proximité de nous], and a racist bias. In addition to that, some of the passengers of the Titanic were important personalities, unlike other shipwrecks, where the victims are anonymous.
Handwritten letter from a passenger of the “Titanic”, the Uruguayan Ramon Artagaveytia Gomez, written a few days before the sinking of the liner, which will soon be auctioned in Montevideo, Uruguay.
© / afp.com/-
But, even more than the circumstances of the drama, it is its symbolism that makes it go down in history. The Titanic is an exceptional boat. It marks the peak of the golden age of large ocean liners. At the time of its construction, “it embodies the idea that technology, permitted by industrial society, can overcome all natural obstacles”, analysis for L’Express Sylvain Venayre, historian and specialist in traffic and imaginaries. When the Titanic sinks, it engages “a reflection on the limits of human action”, he concludes.
A mysterious wreck
The myth could stop there. But one hundred and eleven years after the disaster, various elements continue to maintain the legend. “Already, there was the discovery of the wreck, in 1985”, notes Sylvain Venayre. She was found 650 kilometers from the Canadian coast, in the international waters of the Atlantic Ocean, after seventy-three years of research and mystery. This new news has created renewed interest in the Titanic and continues to fascinate the public. “The seabed resists human knowledge”, explains Sylvain Venayre. Since the wreck is located 4,000 meters deep, it attracts many visitors by playing on the image of adventure.
Second major event: the release of James Cameron’s film, in 1997, very quickly considered one of the biggest successes in cinema. The story of Rose and Jack is broadcast around the world, allowing the Titanic to be much better known than other shipwrecks. Today, the popular enthusiasm remains intact. It is expressed in various ways: “Some may be passionate about underwater exploration, others about the fate of the passengers, still others about the ship and its construction”, lists Antoine Resche. So many aspects which, in 2023, prove that the Titanic is not yet about to fall into oblivion.
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