Ship of fools

Illustration by artist Albrecht Dürer in Stultifera navis (Ship of fools) by Sebastian Brant, published by Johann Bergmann von Olpe (de) in Basel in 1498.

The ship of fools, depicted in a 1549 German woodcut

The ship of fools is an allegory that has long been a fixture in Western literature and art. The allegory depicts a vessel populated by human inhabitants who are deranged, frivolous, or oblivious passengers aboard a ship without a pilot, and seemingly ignorant of their own direction. This concept makes up the framework of the 15th century book Ship of Fools (1494) by Sebastian Brant, which served as the inspiration for Bosch's famous painting, Ship of Fools: a ship—an entire fleet at first—sets off from Basel to the paradise of fools. In literary and artistic compositions of the 15th and 16th centuries, the cultural motif of the ship of fools also served to parody the 'ark of salvation' as the Catholic Church was styled.

Literary use

Michel Foucault, who wrote Madness and Civilization, saw in the ship of fools a symbol of the consciousness of sin and evil alive in the medieval mindset and imaginative landscapes of the Renaissance. According to Jose Barchilon's introduction to Madness and Civilization,

"Renaissance men developed a delightful, yet horrible way of dealing with their mad denizens: they were put on a ship and entrusted to mariners because folly, water, and sea, as everyone then 'knew', had an affinity for each other. Thus, 'Ship of Fools' crisscrossed the sea and canals of Europe with their comic and pathetic cargo of souls. Some of them found pleasure and even a cure in the changing surroundings, in the isolation of being cast off, while others withdrew further, became worse, or died alone and away from their families. The cities and villages which had thus rid themselves of their crazed and crazy, could now take pleasure in watching the exciting sideshow when a ship full of foreign lunatics would dock at their harbors."

A 1962 novel by American writer, Katherine Anne Porter of the same name, set in the autumn of the year 1931, also uses the device of the allegory, and can be seen as an attack on a world that allowed the Second World War to happen.^[1] The novel was the basis for a 1965 film starring Vivien Leigh and Lee Marvin.

Ship of Fools is also the title of a 2002 science fiction novel by Richard Paul Russo where the Ship of Fools is, not surprisingly, a space ship on which no one knows the destination.

In addition, Ship of Fools was used as the title of a book by the Irish journalist Fintan O'Toole on the causes of the financial crisis in Ireland, the metaphor being used to describe the Irish political establishment and their self-deception regarding the economic situation in the country.

Theodore Kaczynski, more commonly known as 'The Unabomber', wrote a play Ship of Fools while in prison, which uses the allegory for the state and advocates violent revolution on environmentalist grounds.

The alternative-history novel The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson, portrays a 'caravan of fools' composed of outcasts, criminals and liberals, whose clashes with Muslim ideologues prompt them to abandon their lives in newly-recolonised Al-Andalus and form new settlements in modern-day France.

In popular music

• Experimental Irish folk group, Dr. Strangely Strange, recorded a song titled "Ship of Fools" on their debut album Kip of the Serenes (1969).^[2]
• The Doors, John Cale and Grateful Dead have all had a song called "Ship of Fools" in their respective albums Morrison Hotel (1970), Fear (1974) and From the Mars Hotel (1974).
• Van Der Graaf, the late 1970s incarnation of Van der Graaf Generator, had a song called "Ship of Fools" that was the opening track on the live album Vital and a studio version of the song was the B-side on the final single released by the band.
• World Party also released a "Ship of Fools" song, in 1986.
• Robert Plant recorded a song by this name in 1987 for his album Now and Zen; in the same year Erasure also released a song called "Ship of Fools".
• Ronnie James Dio explored the idea of the Ship of Fools when he wrote and recorded "All The Fools Sailed Away" in 1987 with his band Dio. The song appeared on the band's 1987 album Dream Evil.
• Pert Near Sandstone released a 7" vinyl titled Ship of Fools in 2013. The title song "Ship of Fools" was written by the bands mandolin/ fiddle player Nate Sipe based on the renaissance era fable. The band simultaneously released an animated music video to supplement the song with a story-line also written by Nate Sipe, animated by Emily Fritze.

References

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