Banca de DEFESA: ANA CARLA LIMA MARINATO

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : ANA CARLA LIMA MARINATO
DATE: 29/08/2022
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: Centro de Artes e Comunicação
TITLE:

From the novel to the short stories: the constitution of modern individuality in Herman Melville's narrative's

KEY WORDS:

Keywords: American Literature. Herman Melville. Modern narratives

PAGES: 210
BIG AREA: Lingüística, Letras e Artes
AREA: Letras
SUMMARY:

This study consists of a comparative analysis of four narratives of Herman Melville: the novel Moby-Dick (1851), and the short stories “Bartleby, the scrivener” (1853), “Benito Cereno” (1855), and “Jimmy Rose” (1855). The analysis focuses on the fact that these texts present similar narrative structure and themes: the story of a character who takes control of the narrative’s point of view and who also shows surprise and discomfort when going through an experience with a mysterious other, whose behavior seems unexplainable. By trying to solve the mystery, these characters make comments that hint to a certain way of conceiving their own individuality: it is a contingent individuality, which seeks to find ways of asserting their subjectivity as they face constant transformations in the modern world. By focusing on this kind of comprehension of modern individuality, these narratives relate not only to how the realistic fiction of the end of the 19th century were written, such as those written by Flaubert and Dostoievski, but also to the great novels of the 20th century.

The analysis points to the fact that the aforementioned novel, on one hand, and stories, on the other, certainly differ one from another. Such differences, however, can be noticed in the way the theme is developed: they cannot be explained by means of essentialist concepts of the genre. On one hand, Moby-Dick challenges the limits of the novel, despite the fact that it presents aspects that theorists consider to be central to the development of the genre in the modern world. On the other hand, the three stories challenge the conceptions of recent specialized critics about the genre, aligning themselves more clearly with the discussions about the novel rather than with the theory of the short story. The element that distinguishes Melville’s masterpiece from the abovementioned stories is the rhythm of the prose, which is expansive and frantic in Moby-Dick, by means of which Ishmael presents himself eloquently, whereas in the three stories, the narrator’s voice renders it more contained and less digressive, while focusing on a single other - the main characters, who bear the title of the stories: Bartleby, Benito Cereno and Jimmy Rose. Therefore, despite keeping his interest in understanding modern life through every possible aspect in order to assert and promote a reflection on the contingency of individuality, Melville made certain adjustments to his literary project when he started writing stories, assuming, just like the narrator, his own contingency as a writer.

BANKING MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1034741 - EDUARDO CESAR MAIA FERREIRA FILHO
Externo à Instituição - CAETANO WALDRIGUES GALINDO - UFPR
Externo à Instituição - PAUL BERGSTROM DIXON
Externo à Instituição - CRISTHIANO MOTTA AGUIAR - UPM
Externa à Instituição - JULIANA BEZERRA DE ALBUQUERQUE