Herman Melville and the American Calling : The Fiction After Moby-Dick, 1851-1857

Argues that Herman Melville's later work anticipates the resurgence of an American exceptionalist ethos underpinning the U.S.-led global "war on terror." Herman Melville and the American Calling......Page 4 Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 1. Melville’s Specter: An Introduction......Page 16 2. Pierre’s Extraordinary Emergency: Melville and the “Voice of Silence”......Page 34 3. Herman Melville’s Israel Potter Reflections on a Damaged Life......Page 72 “Benito Cereno”: The “Vision” of American Exceptionalism......Page 120 “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Wall-Street Story”: Melville’s Politics of Refusal......Page 155 5. Cavilers and Con Men: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade......Page 182 6. American Confidence in the Age of Globalization: Melville's Witness......Page 228 Notes......Page 244 A......Page 286 B......Page 287 D......Page 288 G......Page 289 I......Page 290 M......Page 291 P......Page 292 R......Page 293 W......Page 294 Y......Page 295 Herman Melville and the American Calling 4 Contents 10 Acknowledgments 12 1. Melville’s Specter: An Introduction 16 2. Pierre’s Extraordinary Emergency: Melville and the “Voice of Silence” 34 3. Herman Melville’s Israel Potter Reflections on a Damaged Life 72 4. “Benito Cereno” and “Bartleby, the Scrivener” reflections on the American Calling 120 “Benito Cereno”: The “Vision” of American Exceptionalism 120 “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Wall-Street Story”: Melville’s Politics of Refusal 155 5. Cavilers and Con Men: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade 182 6. American Confidence in the Age of Globalization: Melville's Witness 228 Notes 244 Index 286 A 286 B 287 C 288 D 288 E 289 F 289 G 289 H 290 I 290 J 291 K 291 L 291 M 291 N 292 O 292 P 292 Q 293 R 293 S 294 T 294 V 294 W 294 Y 295 "Oriented by the new Americanist perspective, this book constitutes a rereading of Herman Melville's most prominent fiction after Moby-Dick. In contrast to prior readings of this fiction, William V. Spanos's interpretation takes as its point of departure the theme of spectrality precipitated by the metaphor of orphanage - disaffiliation from the symbolic fatherland, on the one hand, and the myth of American exceptionalism on the other - that emerged as an abiding motif in Melville's creative imagination. This book voices an original argument about Melville's status as an "American" writer, and foregrounds Melville's remarkable anticipation and critique of the exceptionalism that continues to drive American policy in the post-9/11 era."--Jacket. Argues that Herman Melville's later work anticipates the resurgence of an American exceptionalist ethos underpinning the U.S. -led global "war on terror.