The Literature Network - Hunting captain Ahab: Psychological Warfare and the Melville Revival.

Hunting captain Ahab: Psychological Warfare and the Melville Revival.

Content courtesy of

From: Christianity and Literature
Date: 20020622
Author:Horn, Jason G.

By Clare L. Spark. Kent: Kent State University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-87338-674-4. Pp. x + 730. $55.00.

More is at stake than just another analysis of Herman Melville in this hefty, detailed, and wide-ranging study by Clare L. Spark. In fact, she has far less to say about Melville than about the struggle between radical and conservative modernists to appropriate Melville's social philosophy. Both groups found Melville's thought particularly malleable, especially his ambivalent notions about democracy, and by selectively reading his fiction and presenting his life, they revived ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Herman Melville

Herman Melville

Melville's last, grave joke?(Herman Melville)

ALA 2002: Why is Melville a good poet?(Herman Melville)(Brief Article)

Abolition, compromise and "the everlasting elusiveness of truth" in Melville's 'Pierre.' (Herman Melville)(Fictions of Reform)

Melville's Pacific and the Pacific's Melville.(Herman Melville)(Critical Essay)

Giles Gunn, ed.: A Historical Guide to Herman Melville.(Book review)

Melville and the Lyric of History.(Herman Melville)(Critical Essay)

Melville at Sea.(Herman Melville, A Biography, Volume 2, 1851-1891)

A companion to Herman Melville.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

Blurred distinctions: the parable of the sower and Melville's one-legged man. (Herman Melville's 'The Confidence Man: His Masquerade')

Find More Articles

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.