A Companion to Herman Melville

In a series of 35 original essays, this companion demonstrates the relevance of Melville’s works in the twenty-first century.

• Presents 35 original essays by scholars from around the world, representing a range of different approaches to Melville
• Considers Melville in a global context, and looks at the impact of global economies and technologies on the way people read Melville
• Takes account of the latest and most sophisticated scholarship, including postcolonial and feminist perspectives
• Locates Melville in his cultural milieu, revising our views of his politics on race, gender and democracy
• Reveals Melville as a more contemporary writer than his critics have sometimes assumed

Keywords: Herman Melville; Moby Dick; Typee; 19th Century American Literature; Novel; Billy Budd; Bartleby the Scrivener; American literary history; American literary criticism; Melville poetry; the Melville Society; Melville revival; Melville and postcolonialism; Melville and feminism; Leviathan; Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies, Introductions to Literature, American Literature, Introductions to Literature, American Literature