Melvillean Parasites / / Anders M. Gullestad.

• VerfasserIn: Gullestad, Anders M.,
• Place / Publishing House: [Oslo] : : Cappelen Damm Akademisk/NOASP (Nordic Open Access Scholarly Publishing),, 2022.
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (263 pages)

Melvillean Parasites addresses an aspect of Herman Melville's authorship largely overlooked by previous scholars: the abundance of narrators and characters in his writings in search of food-an aim they typically pursue through sponging off the people they encounter. Deploying the conceptual figure of the parasite as its primary analytical tool, the book interprets how the dream of a free meal plays out and is given literary form in Typee (1846), "Bartleby, the Scrivener" (1853), "Jimmy Rose" (1855), and The Confidence-Man (1857). In so doing, Melvillean Parasites aims to explain how Melville's engagement with ethico-political issues concerning nourishment, dependency upon others, hospitality, and responsibility toward strangers, evolved and changed over time. Compared to the tendency of dehumanizing the parasite found in many of his contemporaries, the book claims that what sets him apart, is his insight into the unavoidable parasitic tendencies of us all: Herman Melville-patron saint of the parasite. Melvillean Parasites is intended for scholars, students, and general readers with an interest in the concept of the parasite, as well as Herman Melville's authorship, American literature, and 19th century studies in general. Anders M. Gullestad is Associate Professor at the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies at the University of Bergen.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements. 7 -- Abbreviations 9 -- Chapter 1 Introduction 11 -- On Food in Melville 18 -- A First Peep at the Melvillean Parasite: Omoo . 27 -- Chapter 2 On the Genealogy of the Parasite.33 -- Religious Origins and the Greco-Roman Comedic Parasite.35 -- The Elizabethan Literary Parasite 45 -- Charles Dickens and the Pathologization of the Parasite.59 -- Chapter 3 A Parasite among the Cannibals in Typee 77 -- Tommo in the Paradise of the Parasite. 79 -- The Parasite and His Host. 94 -- Tommo the Troublemaker112 -- Chapter 4 A Parasitic Chain on Wall Street in "Bartleby" . 125 -- Bartleby, the Anorexic Parasite .126 -- A Sweet Morsel for the Narrator.141 -- The Replicating Formula .150 -- Chapter 5 Spotting the Parasite(s) in "Jimmy Rose".161 -- The Two Careers of Jimmy Rose.162 -- William Ford's Surprising Inheritance .168 -- Tasty Compliments for a Vain Heart173 -- Chapter 6 The Parasitic Cascade in The Confidence-Man 175 -- On Begging, the Charity of the Crowd, and Sturdy Teeth.177 -- Enter the Cosmopolitan 195 -- The "Noise" of The Confidence-Man 216 -- Chapter 7 Conclusion .235 -- Works Cited . 241.