Herman Melville and the American Calling

William V. Spanos

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.
Acknowledgments

1. Melville’s Specter: An Introduction

2. Pierre’s Extraordinary Emergency: Melville and the “Voice of Silence”

3. Herman Melville’s Israel Potter: Refl ections on a Damaged Life

4. “Benito Cereno” and “Bartleby, the Scrivener”: Reflections on the American Calling

1. “Benito Cereno”: The “Vision” of American Exceptionalism

2. “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Wall-Street Story”: Melville’s Politics of Refusal

5. Cavilers and Con Men: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade

6. American Confidence in the Age of Globalization: Melville’s Witness

Notes
Index

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• Literary theory
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 21 août 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791477748
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Herman Melville and the American Calling

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Herman Melville and the American Calling

The Fiction afterMoby-Dick, 1851–1857

W ILLIAM S V. PANOS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2008 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

Production by Cathleen Collins Marketing by Fran Keneston

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Spanos, William V.  Herman Melville and the American calling : the fiction after Moby-Dick, 1851–1857 / William V. Spanos.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 978-0-7914-7563-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)  1. Melville, Herman, 1819–1891—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Melville, Herman, 1819–1891—Political and social views. 3. National characteristics, American, in literature. 4. Imperialism in literature. 5. Politics and literature— United States—History—19th century. 6. Political fiction, American—History and criticism. I. Title.

PS2388.P6S73 2008 813'.3—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2007047987

For my son, Adam, A New American, with love and . . . alicrosity

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If thou beest a man that lives without a calling, though thou hast two thousands to spend, yet if thou hast no calling tending to public good, thou art an unclean beast.

—John Cotton, “Christian Calling”

In the ordinary use of the termsubjectin fact means (1) a free subjec- tivity, a centre of initiatives, author of and responsible for its actions; (2) a subjected being, who submits to a higher authority, and is therefore stripped of all freedom except that of freely accepting his submission. This last note gives us the meaning of this ambiguity, which is merely a reflection of the effect which produces it; the individualis interpellated as a free subject in order that he shall submit freely to the commandments of the Subject, i.e. in order that he shall (freely) accept his subjection, i.e. in order that he shall make the gestures and actions of his subjection “all by himself.”There are no subjects except by and for their subjection. That is why they “work by themselves.” —Louis Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological States Apparatuses”

It is therefore, a source of great virtue for the practiced mind to learn, bit by bit, first to change about in visible and transitory things, so that afterwards it may be able to leave them behind altogether. The person who finds his homeland sweet is still a tender beginner; he to whom every soil is as his native one is already strong; but he is perfect to whom the entire world is as a foreign place. The tender soul has fixed his love on one spot in the world; the strong person has extended his love to all places; the perfect man has extinguished his. —Victor of St. Hugo,Didascalicon, quoted by Edward W. Said inCulture and Imperialism

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Acknowledgments

Contents

Chapter 1. Melville’s Specter: An Introduction

Chapter 2. Pierre’s Extraordinary Emergency: Melville and the  “Voice of Silence”

Chapter 3. Herman Melville’sIsraelPotter: Reflections on  a Damaged Life

Chapter 4. “Benito Cereno” and “Bartleby, the Scrivener”:  Reflections on the American Calling  1. “Benito Cereno”: The “Vision” of  American Exceptionalism  2. “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Wall-Street Story”:  Melville’s Politics of Refusal

Chapter 5. Cavilers and Con Men:TheConfidence-Man:  His Masquerade

Chapter 6. American Confidence in the Age of Globalization:  Melville’s Witness

Notes

Index

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1

19

57

105

105

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167

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