White Fire
The Influence of Emerson on Melville
Published on 8. March 1991
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-878981-02-8 (ISBN)
Description
White Fire challenges the critical tradition that for nearly half a century has celebrated the power of blackness in American literature. This tradition presents Herman Melville as investigating, then rejecting the optimistic vision of Ralph Waldo Emerson because he lacked a viable sense of evil. Williams digs beneath the obvious contrasts between these two great contemporaries, asking three questions about their relationship: What was Emerson actually saying at the time Melville was serving his literary apprenticeship? How much did Melville know of Emerson's provocative thought? What use did Melville make of ideas and images that Emerson, more than any other contemporary, espoused? In his findings, Williams views Melville as far less the independent critic of Emerson that modern critics have described and far more the responsive artist and opportunist, absorbing images and ideas from the most readily available sources and transforming them into art.
Reviews / Votes
A great inaugural offering by California State U., Long Beach Press as Williams challenges the critical tradition that presents Melville as investigating, then rejecting the optimistic vision of Emerson because he lacked a viable sense of evil. * University Press Book News * What makes this comparative study more valuable than most of its kind is its location of a point or points of imaginative action and response, in this instance Emerson's lectures of 1848-1850.... * Nineteenth-Century Literature * ...stimulating and persuasive. * American Literature * ...stimulating and persuasive. * American Literature * A great inaugural offering by California State U., Long Beach Press as Williams challenges the critical tradition that presents Melville as investigating, then rejecting the optimistic vision of Emerson because he lacked a viable sense of evil. * University Press Book News * What makes this comparative study more valuable than most of its kind is its location of a point or points of imaginative action and response, in this instance Emerson's lectures of 1848-1850.... * Nineteenth-Century Literature *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Lanham, MD
United States
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
531 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-878981-02-8 (9781878981028)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
John B. Williams is Professor of English at California State University, Long Beach, where he specializes in teaching and research in nineteenth century American literature and linguistics.