Empire for Liberty: Melville and the Poetics of Individualism

by Wai Chee Dimock

Wai Chee Dimock approaches Herman Melville not as a timeless genius, but as a historical figure caught in the politics of an imperial nation and an "imperial self." She challenges our customary 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."

264 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1989

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

plausible