A Sea narrative of becoming: A Deleuzian reading of Moby-Dick
| Autor: | Huang, Chung Fu, 黃崇福 |
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| Rok vydání: | 2009 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 97 Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851) captivates readers with its exuberance and renders the experiences of shipboard life into a source of philosophy. Moby-Dick bears manifold characteristics worthy of exploration. Among the multiple entries into the literary research, Moby-Dick’s achievement becomes evident when being analyzed from the perspective of sea journey. Moby-Dick manifests how a traveler’s mind-set influences her/his perception along the way on the sea journey. In light of encounters with the other, Ishmael’s recounted narrative assists in the understanding of the distinction between him and Captain Ahab as different travelers. The contrast between Ishmael and Ahab concerns whether they really encounter the other and undergo transformation. This thesis considers Ishmael as a traveler who really encounters the other while Ahab keeps his one-track mind-set on his revenge, which halts the chance for his encounter with the other. Following the examination of different travelers, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s nomadology would be applied to further the reading of travelers. The triangular dimension among Ishmael, Ahab and Moby Dick is interpreted with the concepts derived from nomadology such as a war-machine and the State apparatus. Mainly focused on the power of resistance highlighted from nomadology, Ahab’s whale hunt deserves more attention to mobility rather than to the passiveness channeled by his revenge upon Moby Dick. More than what the monomaniac can show, the theory of nomadology would potentially enrich the analysis of Ahab’s pursuit of Moby Dick. Ahab plays both a role of the controlling force like the State apparatus and a role of the resisting power like the war-machine. Besides nomadology, Deleuze and Guattari also employ becoming-animal to suggest the possible inspirational resonance between Ahab and Moby Dick. Instead of an emphasis on the physical resemblance, “becoming” sheds light on the incorporeal transformation which Ahab undergoes within the in-between relationship with Moby Dick. Through his “lines of flight,” Ahab has been involved in becoming-Moby Dick to assert his energy flow out of the intense desire. Overall, this thesis aims at generating more dialogue by bringing nomadology and becoming in the context of Moby-Dick. This incorporation would allow readers to consider Moby-Dick as the manifestation of Deleuze and Guattari’s “nomad thought” rather than as a mere whale-hunting story of adventure. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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