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Empire for Liberty: Melville and the Poetics of Individualism
Paperback / softback
Main Details
| Title |
Empire for Liberty: Melville and the Poetics of Individualism
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| Authors and Contributors |
By (author) Wai Chee Dimock
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| Physical Properties |
| Format:Paperback / softback | | Pages:264 | | Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140 |
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| Category/Genre | Literary studies - c 1800 to c 1900
Literary studies - fiction, novelists and prose writers |
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| ISBN/Barcode |
9780691015095
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| Classifications | Dewey:813.3 |
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| Audience | | Professional & Vocational | | Tertiary Education (US: College) | |
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Publishing Details |
| Publisher |
Princeton University Press
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| Imprint |
Princeton University Press
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| Publication Date |
21 February 1991 |
| Publication Country |
United States
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Description
Approaching Herman Melville as a figure caught in the politics of a nation and an "imperial self", the author aims to challenge our view by demonstrating a link between the individualism that enabled Melville to write as a sovereign author and the nationalism that allowed America to grow into what Jefferson hoped would be an "empire for liberty".
Reviews"In this tenacious and articulate study, Professor Dimock explores the 'textual governance' of Melville's fiction: the ways in which the expectations and practice of imperialism in antebellum America necessarily informed--and limited--the poetics of Melville's 'authorial sovereignty' over his writings. Not everyone will agree with her conclusions about Melville's problematical poetics and historicism; yet her book will send the reader back again and again to Melville, equipped with new insights into his art and vision."--R. Bruce Bickley, Jr., American Literature
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