New Essays on Moby-Dick / Edition 1

by Richard H. Brodhead

Overview

The American Novel series provides students of American literature with introductory critical guides to the great works of American fiction by giving details of the novel's composition, publication history and contemporary reception. The group of essays, each specially commissioned from a leading scholar in the field, examines the interpretative methods and prominent ideas on the text. There are also helpful guides to further reading. Specifically designed for undergraduates, the series will be a powerful resource for anyone engaged in the critical analysis of major American novels. This collection of essays on Moby-Dick reconnects Melville's great work with concerns that are central to readers in critical studies. Richard Brodhead introduces the volume with a discussion of the book's unique place in the canon of American literature. He then recounts the novel's history from its mixed reception in the mid-nineteenth century to its prevalent status as a classic. The five essays that follow focus on various aspects of the novel: its vision of nature, its drama of social alienation, its religious defiance, and its splendid variety of language.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521317887
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/28/1986
Series:	The American Novel
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.55(w) x 8.54(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

Series editor's preface; 1. Trying all things: an introduction to Moby-Dick Richard H. Brodhead; 2. The mariner's multiple quest James McIntosh; 3. Moby-Dick as sacred text Lawrence Buell; 4. Call me Ishmaek, or how to make double-talk speak Carolyn Porter; 5. Calvinist earthquake: Moby-Dick and religious tradition T. Walter Herbert, Jr.; 6. When is a painting most like a whale?: Ishmael, Moby-Dick, and the sublime Bryan Wolf; Selected bibliography.