Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works
Instead of pointing to an ideal of harmony and perpetuating a long-lasting tradition initiated by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, allusions to Greco-Roman sculpture in Melville’s works are intertwined with destructive forms of violence. By releasing the darker energies which animate the figure of Apollo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Sillages Critiques |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4886 |
| _version_ | 1819050897906335744 |
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| author | Ronan Ludot-Vlasak |
| author_facet | Ronan Ludot-Vlasak |
| author_sort | Ronan Ludot-Vlasak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Instead of pointing to an ideal of harmony and perpetuating a long-lasting tradition initiated by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, allusions to Greco-Roman sculpture in Melville’s works are intertwined with destructive forms of violence. By releasing the darker energies which animate the figure of Apollo – a god “driven by a desire for transgression” in Marcel Détienne’s words – Melville’s writing subverts the immaculate and marmoreal antiquity fantasised by the champions of neoclassicism and opens up an unchartered territory within which agonizing pain and violence might only be glimpsed. Ancient marble works in Typee, Billy Budd or Clarel thus invite us to revisit classical antiquity in the light of its own violence, but they also unveil violence as a spectral force which resists representation and remains – almost – unspeakable. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T11:55:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-51920d49c3d44bd9937ec14d40123080 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1272-3819 1969-6302 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T11:55:21Z |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sillages Critiques |
| spelling | doaj.art-51920d49c3d44bd9937ec14d401230802022-12-21T19:04:58ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022017-03-0122Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's worksRonan Ludot-VlasakInstead of pointing to an ideal of harmony and perpetuating a long-lasting tradition initiated by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, allusions to Greco-Roman sculpture in Melville’s works are intertwined with destructive forms of violence. By releasing the darker energies which animate the figure of Apollo – a god “driven by a desire for transgression” in Marcel Détienne’s words – Melville’s writing subverts the immaculate and marmoreal antiquity fantasised by the champions of neoclassicism and opens up an unchartered territory within which agonizing pain and violence might only be glimpsed. Ancient marble works in Typee, Billy Budd or Clarel thus invite us to revisit classical antiquity in the light of its own violence, but they also unveil violence as a spectral force which resists representation and remains – almost – unspeakable.http://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4886Herman Melvilleviolenceclassical antiquityancient sculptureneoclassicismApollo |
| spellingShingle | Ronan Ludot-Vlasak Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works Sillages Critiques Herman Melville violence classical antiquity ancient sculpture neoclassicism Apollo |
| title | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_full | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_fullStr | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_short | Bodies in Agony: Classical Sculpture and Violence in Herman Melville's works |
| title_sort | bodies in agony classical sculpture and violence in herman melville s works |
| topic | Herman Melville violence classical antiquity ancient sculpture neoclassicism Apollo |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4886 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ronanludotvlasak bodiesinagonyclassicalsculptureandviolenceinhermanmelvillesworks |