Melville And The Idea Of Blackness: Race And Imperialism In Nineteenth Century America (cambridge Studies In American Literature And Culture)
by Professor Christopher Freeburg /
2012 / English / PDF
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By examining the unique problems that "blackness" signifies in
Moby-Dick, Pierre, "Benito Cereno," and "The Encantadas,"
Christopher Freeburg analyzes how Herman Melville grapples with the
social realities of racial difference in nineteenth-century
America. Where Melville's critics typically read blackness as
either a metaphor for the haunting power of slavery or an allegory
of moral evil, Freeburg asserts that blackness functions as the
site where Melville correlates the sociopolitical challenges of
transatlantic slavery and U.S. colonial expansion with
philosophical concerns about mastery. By focusing on Melville's
iconic interracial encounters, Freeburg reveals the important role
blackness plays in Melville's portrayal of characters' arduous
attempts to seize their own destiny, amass scientific knowledge,
and perfect themselves. A valuable resource for scholars and
graduate students in American literature, this text will also
appeal to those working in American, African American, and
postcolonial studies.
By examining the unique problems that "blackness" signifies in
Moby-Dick, Pierre, "Benito Cereno," and "The Encantadas,"
Christopher Freeburg analyzes how Herman Melville grapples with the
social realities of racial difference in nineteenth-century
America. Where Melville's critics typically read blackness as
either a metaphor for the haunting power of slavery or an allegory
of moral evil, Freeburg asserts that blackness functions as the
site where Melville correlates the sociopolitical challenges of
transatlantic slavery and U.S. colonial expansion with
philosophical concerns about mastery. By focusing on Melville's
iconic interracial encounters, Freeburg reveals the important role
blackness plays in Melville's portrayal of characters' arduous
attempts to seize their own destiny, amass scientific knowledge,
and perfect themselves. A valuable resource for scholars and
graduate students in American literature, this text will also
appeal to those working in American, African American, and
postcolonial studies.