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Melville and Aesthetics

Palgrave Macmillan

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
  2. Introduction: Aesthetics and Melville

    • Samuel Otter, Geoffrey Sanborn
    Pages 1-10
  3. Blubber: Melville’s Bad Writing

    • Alex Calder
    Pages 11-31
  4. Pierre’s Nominal Conversions

    • Elizabeth Duquette
    Pages 117-135
  5. The Revolutionary Aesthetics of Israel Potter

    • Robert S. Levine
    Pages 157-171
  6. Battle Music: Melville and the Forms of War

    • Peter Coviello
    Pages 193-212
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 235-263

About this book

In an original and provocative series of readings that range across Melville's career, the contributors consider not only the sources and implications of Melville's aesthetics, but the relationship between aesthetic criticism, historical analysis, and contemporary theory.

Reviews

"This collection of essays makes an essential contribution to American literary scholarship by expanding the hermeneutical possibilities of theory and practice as well as enriching our understanding of Melville's literary works." - Review 19

"Melville and Aesthetics provides a snapshot of Melville criticism as it is currently practiced by some of the field's most accomplished interpreters. The volume treats a wide range of texts by Melville, including the poetry, and essay after essay wrestles with Melville's astonishing stylistic achievements with intelligence and verve.This is a volume that will be welcomed by students and specialists alike." - Jonathan Elmer, Professor of English and American Studies, Indiana University and author of On Lingering and Being Last: Race and Sovereignty in the New World

"Melville and Aesthetics gives us a set of elegant and interpretively rich essays that add up to a powerful argument about the essential place of aesthetics in Melville's career. The 'extravagant qualities of Melville's lines,' to use Otter and Sanborn's phrase, are made visible and analytically vital as never before." - Cindy Weinstein, Professor of English, California Institute of Technology

About the authors

GEOFFREY SANBORN is an Associate Professor of Literature at Bard College, USA.  

SAMUEL OTTER is a Professor of English and Department Chair of the University of California at Berkeley, USA.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access