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8 Herman Melville (1819–1891)

  • Damien B. Schlarb
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Handbook of the American Short Story
This chapter is in the book Handbook of the American Short Story

Abstract

Known primarily for his novels, Herman Melville also brought to bear his social criticism, wide intellectual and historical compass, and a sardonic sense of humor on the short-fiction genre. The two stories discussed here ponder American techno-modernity and an emerging globalized market economy informed by gender and class divisions. The two-parted story “The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids” contrasts two scenes of leisure and labor and portrays the compartmentalizing thinking behind transnational capitalism and how it differentiates people by gender, class, and region. “The Lightning-Rod Man” satirizes nineteenthcentury American valorizations of science (scientism) and traces the roots of that fervor to the religious revival movements of the day. On the surface, the story allegorizes the emerging rift between science and religion, mass culture, and democratic individualism. Yet Melville shows how, underneath a veneer of cultural competition, religion and technology share discursive and institutional histories.

Abstract

Known primarily for his novels, Herman Melville also brought to bear his social criticism, wide intellectual and historical compass, and a sardonic sense of humor on the short-fiction genre. The two stories discussed here ponder American techno-modernity and an emerging globalized market economy informed by gender and class divisions. The two-parted story “The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids” contrasts two scenes of leisure and labor and portrays the compartmentalizing thinking behind transnational capitalism and how it differentiates people by gender, class, and region. “The Lightning-Rod Man” satirizes nineteenthcentury American valorizations of science (scientism) and traces the roots of that fervor to the religious revival movements of the day. On the surface, the story allegorizes the emerging rift between science and religion, mass culture, and democratic individualism. Yet Melville shows how, underneath a veneer of cultural competition, religion and technology share discursive and institutional histories.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
  7. 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
  8. 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
  9. 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
  10. Part II: Close Readings
  11. 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
  12. 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
  13. 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
  14. 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
  15. 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
  16. 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
  17. 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
  18. 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
  19. 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
  20. 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
  21. 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
  22. 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
  23. 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
  24. 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
  25. 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
  26. 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
  27. 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
  28. 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
  29. 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
  30. 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
  31. 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
  32. 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
  33. 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
  34. 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
  35. 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
  36. 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
  37. 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
  38. 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
  39. 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
  40. 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
  41. 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
  42. Index of Names 683
  43. Index of Subjects 691
  44. List of Contributors 699
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110587647-009

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
  7. 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
  8. 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
  9. 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
  10. Part II: Close Readings
  11. 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
  12. 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
  13. 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
  14. 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
  15. 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
  16. 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
  17. 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
  18. 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
  19. 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
  20. 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
  21. 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
  22. 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
  23. 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
  24. 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
  25. 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
  26. 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
  27. 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
  28. 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
  29. 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
  30. 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
  31. 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
  32. 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
  33. 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
  34. 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
  35. 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
  36. 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
  37. 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
  38. 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
  39. 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
  40. 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
  41. 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
  42. Index of Names 683
  43. Index of Subjects 691
  44. List of Contributors 699
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