Ferrantello, Donna
(um 1993)
Subjects
Index of Names : Occident
Chronology Entries (2)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
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| 1 | 1993 |
Ferrantello, Donna. 'The symphony' in 'Moby-Dick' : the Chinese eye in Melville's Storm : the influence of the China trade, oriental thought and universalism on Melville's romanticism. This dissertation is an exploration of the influence of the China trade, Oriental thought and Universalism on Melville's Romanticism, focusing on his novel Moby-Dick. The thesis that Melville writes in a genre of literary religion similar to Transcendentalists is argued on the basis of his use of a meditation process to realize an intuitional epistemology and achieve a harmony of polarities. I characterize his epistemology as related to a hidden Oriental 'geist'. Chapter One explores the influence of the China trade, travel and texts during Melville's age. The China trade was a vehicle for economic exchange in early 19th century America. It was also a powerful source for transmitting knowledge about Oriental culture and thought. The general knowledge of Chinese culture and thought available to the reading of Melville and his contemporaries is discussed with specific attention to Melvilles interests and reading habits. Chapter Two surveys the philosophical literature generated by Transcendentalists, British and German Romantics about the relation between mind and nature. I trace their involvement with polarities to influence from Oriental thought. This interest in a synthesis of polarities also included the unity of science and philosophy. Thus, it is argues that the work of Nature-philosophy writers Herder and Humboldt influenced the quasi-scientific interests of Melville expressed in Moby-Dick. Chapter Three gives a brief analysis of symbol theories found in Emerson, Coleridge and Schelling. I demonstrate how Melville uses external symbols to convey states of consciousness. His use of a meditation process as a spiritual method for recognizing intuitive truth is evident in Melville's language about consciousness. The Oriental 'geist' is revealed in his use of the Universal Yellow Lotus symbol and in contrasting imagery of East and West, the Pacific and Atlantic waters, masculinity and femininity, activity and calm, and Ahab and Ishmael. "The Symphony" chapter provides the epistemological, ontological and cosmological center for the novel's meaning: the Chinese Tao of being. Finally, this enlightenment is related to a 'coming home' experience. Chapter Five situates Melville's Universalist notions on brotherhood, unity of races and religions and the notion of a universal religion in relation to Unitarian Christianity and Transcendentalism, particularly the thought of Samuel Johnson. Both Melville and Johnson depict the sea as a symbol for universality. An embracing maternal spirit as the source of unity for all being and polarities is the nexus of Melville's symphony. |
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| 2 | 2000 |
Ferrantello, Donna. Moby-Dick and peace [ID D30218]. Original study about the influence of Orientalism on Melville and how Transcendentalists and Orientalists were instrumental to Melville's writing of his classic novel. 1) Chapter One - Ishmael's Transcontinental Journey Given the cultural transformations triggered by science, trade and travel, Ishmael questions the meaning of life and religious understandings. What forces shaped Melville’s life? How does he depart from American mainstream Christianity? Why does Ishmael take the journey eastward on the Pequod and within his inner consciousness? What colleagues shared Melville’s explorations? How have modern critics dealt with Melville’s relationship to the Orient? 2) Chapter Two - The Influence of the China Trade, Travel and Texts on Melville's Life and Thought Since Melville's relatives and contemporaries were involved with the China trade and Oriental cultures, they contributed to his knowledge. Passages about the China trade and Oriental culture are shown within Moby-Dick and other works. What other thinkers and texts about the Orient itself were influential? 3) Chapter Three - Transcendence to Peace: Meditation and the Orient Melville expresses both Christian and Oriental images in the novel. After Ishmael asserts his "meditation and water" mythos in the first chapter, what direction does his "dive into consciousness" take? How does Melville develop the unfolding stages of Ishmael’s consciousness? How does symbolism relate to consciousness and the external narration of the whale hunt? How do the writings of Thoreau and Emerson influence Melville's thought? 4) Chapter Four - The Romantic Heritage: Nature- Philosophy and Polarities Why was Melville so involved with the notion of polarities characteristic of Romanticism? How did his Romantic precursors perceive the relationship between mind and matter? What thinkers felt affinity with the wisdom from the Orient? How did Romanticism challenge materialistic orientations? 5) Chapter Five - A Symphony of Peace: Melville and Universalism Melville was surrounded by people engaged with intense religious involvements and radical debate. The revelation of peace and harmony affects Ishmael's understanding of the relationship between Christianity and the world religions. Ishmael's transcendent experience of peace relates to the individual, the relationship between masculine and feminine and the world cultures at large. Who were the Orientalists who influenced and/or paralleled Melville’s own speculations about religion and universal truth? What roles do Ishmael and Queequeg play in this debate? How does the symbolism of the sea express universality? 6) Chapter Six - Conclusion : Writing Moby-Dick the Logos and The Tao Similar to other Transcendentalists and Romantics, Melville discovers enlightenment through intuition and the reconciliation of polarities. Is it possible that the notion of the "Tao" was a germinating seed and design for the artistry of Moby-Dick? The pattern for design, as both conscious and unconscious creation, originates with a way of knowing and perceiving nature. Ishmael’s Romantic and Christian, Jobian quest to know the face of the whale develops and expands into a new understanding of God or a universal consciousness. |
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Bibliography (2)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1993 |
Ferrantello, Donna. 'The symphony' in 'Moby-Dick' : the Chinese eye in Melville's Storm : the influence of the China trade, oriental thought and universalism on Melville's romanticism. Dissertation Drew University, 1993. (Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms International, 1993). Dissertation abstracts international ; vol. 54-06, Section A. |
Publication / MelH5 | |
| 2 | 2000 |
Ferrantello, Donna. Moby-Dick and peace : Melville's 'gospel of the century' revisited : the influence of the China trade, orientalism and universalism on Melville's romanticism. (Marietta : Open Sky Press, 2000). http://www.melville.org/mbook1.htm. |
Publication / MelH8 |