Literature and Social Pathologies: Ahab’s Masculinity as a Distortion of Care and Faith

This article examines Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick using the lens of care and faith, with the aim of depicting a pathological type of masculinity represented by the character of Captain Ahab. I situate Melville’s novel in a culture where liberalism, capitalism, and imperialism were dominant sem...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: LaMothe, Ryan 1955- (Author)
Format: Electronic Review
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer Science Business Media B. V. 2023
In: Pastoral psychology
Year: 2023, Volume: 72, Issue: 1, Pages: 49-63
Further subjects:B Masculinity
B Book review
B Ahab
B Imperialism
B Pastoral Theology
B Faith
B Care
B Moby-Dick
B Capitalism
B Liberalism
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This article examines Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick using the lens of care and faith, with the aim of depicting a pathological type of masculinity represented by the character of Captain Ahab. I situate Melville’s novel in a culture where liberalism, capitalism, and imperialism were dominant semiotic systems that, I argue, served as key factors in shaping and supporting a type of masculinity wherein one possesses a maniacal preoccupation with one’s goal or self-interests that is accompanied by instrumentalized, conditional care (if present), and, correspondingly, an instrumentalized and contractual faith.
ISSN:1573-6679
Contains:Enthalten in: Pastoral psychology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11089-022-01042-y