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The Cambridge introduction to Herman Melville / Kevin J. Hayes.

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Van Pelt Library PS2386 .H35 2007
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Hayes, Kevin J.
Series:
Cambridge introductions to literature
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Melville, Herman, 1819-1891--Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Melville, Herman.
Melville, Herman, 1819-1891.
Authors, American--19th century--Biography--Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Authors, American.
Genre:
Biographies.
Handbooks and manuals.
Physical Description:
xi, 140 pages ; 24 cm.
Other Title:
Herman Melville
Place of Publication:
Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Summary:
Despite its indifferent reception when it was first published in 1851, Moby-Dick is now central to the American literary canon. This introduction sets out the key themes, contexts, and critical reception of Melville's entire oeuvre. Kevin J. Hayes provides comprehensive information about Melville's life and works in an accessible and engaging book that will be essential for students beginning to read this important author. This book covers: Life, Contexts, Works, Reception.
Contents:
Chapter 1 Life 1
The existential context 12
The historical context 13
The urban context 14
The visual context 16
The psychological context 19
The American context 20
The context of labor 21
The context of slavery 22
The world context 23
The imaginative context 23
Chapter 3 Writings 25
The faces of Types 27
Omoo: the rover as flaneur 33
Becoming a great writer: Mardi, Redburn, White-Jacket 39
Confronting Moby-Dick 46
Pierre: the making of a tragic hero 60
Private letters 67
Rewriting history: Israel Potter and "Benito Cereno" 74
Modern man: "The Lightning-Rod Man," The Confidence-Man, "Bartleby, the Scrivener" 81
Battle-Pieces: the voices of war 87
Clarel, an American epic 92
The return to prose: Burgundy Club sketches, John Marr 99
Billy Budd: visions and revisions 105
Chapter 4 Reception 112.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 124-134) and index.
ISBN:
0521854806
9780521854801
0521671043
9780521671040
OCLC:
70831052

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