Will and Representation: The Philosophical Foundations of Melville's "Theatrum Mundi</I> (Studies on Themes and Motifs in Literature)

Product Description The «Theatrum Mundi» of Melville's thought investigated in this work signifies the representational space of modern subjectivity, which posits a «world» of value for itself. The representational theatre of the will manifests itself through the governing discourses of politics, religion, and aesthetics as they are integrated into Melville's fiction.Will and Representation focuses onMoby Dick, revealing the Fundamental metaphysical dispositions illustrated through the historical discourses thatMoby Dick integrates and transforms. The metaphysical dispositions themselves determine Melville's reception of classical questions of politics, philosophy, and aesthetics, and his transformation of them. About the Author The Author: Bernhard Radloff is Associate Professor of English at the University of Ottawa. He received his Ph.D. in English and American Literature from the University of Toronto and has published widely in the fields of American literature and literary theory.