The Civil War World of Herman Melville
- ISBN-10
- 0700606025
- ISBN-13
- 9780700606023
- Category
- Literary Criticism / General
- Pages
- 544
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1993
- Publisher
- University Press of Kansas
- Author
- Stanton Garner
Description
Contrary to popular belief, Stanton Garner contends, Herman Melville was not intellectually and emotionally detached from the war. In actuality, Melville brooded over the war's enormous brutality and destructive power. At the same time, his passion for writing, which had suffered greatly in the wake of his grand failures of the 1850s, revived. With renewed purpose, Melville saw an opportunity to establish himself as the prophet—poet of a rededicated America. The vehicle for this ambitious, and ultimately unfulfilled, enterprise was to be Battle-Pieces, an epically conceived book of poems that chronicles the war from John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry through Lincoln's assassination.
Drawing upon previously unknown or neglected archival sources, Garner places Melville's experience within the larger contexts of his extended family, social circles, political beliefs, travels, and reading. He establishes Melville's position in the rift among major Northern writers in which Emerson, Longfellow, Lowell, and Whittier were on one side and Melville, Hawthorne, and—to some extent—Whitman were on the other.
By delving into the complexities and apparent contradictions of Melville's personal life, Garner reveals why a man who was diametrically opposed to slavery refused to side with the abolitionists and maintained the anti-administration attitude predominant in his Democratic family while supporting the Union war effort.
Get the book
Similar books
-
August Wilson's Fences: A Reference Guide
By Sandra G. ShannonOutlines the plot and characters of this groundbreaking play; explains the production, historical context, and themes; and includes critiques and reactions of scholars.
-
京味浮沉与北京文学的发展：北京文学研究资料汇编
By 张莉编他们虽然不像其他流派团体一样,拥有严密的组织,但是常常会举办一些文化沙龙,比如说林徽因每逢周六就会在自家的四合院里举办茶会,邀约各类学术精英、社会名流前来品茶聚会、谈古论今。林徽因的女儿梁再冰后来回忆道:“每到周末, ...
-
为生命而读
By 张鹏, 约翰·伦纳德, 杨莉馨约翰?伦纳德是美国文学界的一位泰斗。作为一名博学、热忱、涉猎甚广的书评人，他亲手参与塑造了美国当代文学的风貌。本书系从伦纳德历经50载的阅读生涯中萃取的50篇对多位名 ...
-
The Storyteller's Sourcebook: A Subject, Title, and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children, 1983-1999
By Margaret Read MacDonald, Brian W. SturmMarshall , James . Goldilocks and the Three Bears . Retold and Illus . by : James Marshall . New York : Dial , 1988 . Mayo , Gretchen Will . Here Comes Tricky Rabbit : Native American Trickster Tales . New York : Walker , 1994 .
-
Introductions, Notes and Commentaries to Texts in ' The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker ': Volume 1, Sir Thomas More
By Cyrus HoyCyrus Hoy, Thomas Dekker Fredson Bowers. but this identification is by no means regarded as certain , ' Hand C is that of a theatrical scribe , Hand D has been attributed to Shakespeare , 3 Hand E has been identified as Dekker's.4 ...
-
The Collected Works of L.S. Vygotsky: Volume 1: Problems of General Psychology, Including the Volume Thinking and Speech
By L.S. VygotskyAs Thompson has pointed out, we commonly use words, expressions, and constructions in written expositions that would seem artificial in oral speech. Gri- boedov's phrase, "and you speak as you write," refers to the comic transfer of the ...
-
The Ruined Cottage: The Brothers Michael
By Wiliam WordsworthThe Ruined Cottage: The Brothers Michael
-
William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
By William ShakespeareThis edition represents Shakespeare's text as it appears in the most authoritative of early editions, the Folio, published in 1623, and it supplies students with useful footnotes to the interpretation of the text.
-
The Quotable Mark Twain: His Essential Aphorisms, Witticisms & Concise Opinions
By Mark TwainHere are more than 1,800 quotations, organized from A-to-Z, from America's consummate author--Mark Twain.
-
Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing
By Diana George, John TrimburTested GOLD MEDAL WINNER only a few and proved Jowett training will bring WEEKS AGO ! " you new men and women Yriends , new popularity everywhere you go . ALL XO ! I don't care how skinny or llabSPORTS by you are , I'll make you OVER by ...