Herman Melville and the American calling
Subtitle: fiction after Moby-Dick, 1851-1857
By: William V. Spanos.
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 280
ISBN-13: 9780791475638
Subjects: Melville, Herman, -- 1819-1891 -- Criticism and interpretation; Melville, Herman, -- 1819-1891 -- Political and social views; National characteristics, American, in literature; Imperialism in literature; Politics in literature; Political fiction, American -- History and criticism
Description: "Oriented by the new Americanist perspective, this book constitutes a rereading of Herman Melville's most prominent fiction after Moby-Dick. In contrast to prior readings of this fiction, William V. Spanos's interpretation takes as its point of departure the theme of spectrality precipitated by the metaphor of orphanage - disaffiliation from the symbolic fatherland, on the one hand, and the myth of American exceptionalism on the other - that emerged as an abiding motif in Melville's creative imagination. This book voices an original argument about Melville's status as an "American" writer, and foregrounds Melville's remarkable anticipation and critique of the exceptionalism that continues to drive American policy in the post-9/11 era."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-269) and index.